Two little brothers, aged 7 and 9, who went missing in Brazil’s dense Amazon rainforest for 25 days have miraculously been found alive.

They were found by a tree cutter, who heard one of the boys screaming at the sound of his chainsaw, 22 miles from the spot where they went missing on Tuesday. They were both starved and dehydrated but otherwise fine as they had managed to survive on rainwater. 

They are suffering from malnutrition and severe dehydration, but they are gaining weight with no risk to their lives," Januario Carneiro da Cunha Neto, an indigenous health official in the northern city of Manaus, told AFP.

Glauco, seven, and Gleison Ferreira, nine, left their home in the Lago Capanã nature reserve in Brazil's Amazonas state to find small birds on February 18.

After they failed to come home the authorities began a wide search of the rainforest in the country's northwest – but called it off on February 26. A search party of more than 250 people, which had continued to search for the boys after official efforts ended, celebrated as the boys were stretchered to safety.

Tearful dad Claudionor Ribeiro Ferreira told TV station Band Jornalismo: 'When I saw my children, I was thrilled.'

He said he was also taken aback by the size of the crowd who came to see his boys' safe arrival.

The tree cutter found the two boys lying on the rainforest floor, both in severe condition.

Glauco and Gleison were then rushed to hospital in nearby Manicoré, where they were treated for severe malnutrition, dehydration and skin abrasions.

A video tweeted by the Amazon Manaus Post shows the pair being transported on a boat from the remote part of the jungle where they were found.

Arriving at a dock to be put in an ambulance, a hundreds-strong crowd greets them.

The Ferreira family are members of the indigenous Mura ethnic group, with local leaders also adding to search efforts.