A five-year-old boy who was rescued after almost 24 hours lost in the desert in western Argentina has been released from hospital, BBC reported.

Benjamín Sánchez went missing during a family trip on Sunday and was found by a team of volunteers 21km (13 miles) from where he was last seen.

"I was cold, I slept badly, leaning on a rock," said the boy, who was wearing only a T-shirt and light trousers.

He said he had survived by eating grass and drinking water from a stream.

After being rescued on Monday afternoon, the child was taken by helicopter to a hospital in San Juan suffering slight dehydration and was released on Tuesday.