Madagascar’s police minister and an air force mechanic were able to swim in safety for 12 hours after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean.
General Serge Gellé, 57, the state secretary of the gendarmerie, was discovered by a fisherman in a canoe in the water that brought him ashore, according to officials.
Another passenger, Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Laitsara, also swam to Mahambo Beach.
It was with deep sadness that I learned of the sinking of a ship off Antsiraka and its terrible toll. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.
I solemnly pray for the rest of their souls. pic.twitter.com/nZzJsaYMtL
– Andry Rajoelina (@SE_Rajoelina) December 21, 2021
“Thank God it’s not my turn to die yet. I am fine. I’m just cold, “said Gelle in a video that the Ministry of Defense of Madagascar posted on Twitter. “But I’m sad because I don’t know if my friends are still alive.”
Gelle appeared on a deck chair, still in his military camouflage, hands pale and wrinkled from the water and the cold.
“There were four of us on the plane. I sat behind the pilot, ”he said about the crash on Monday evening.
“Since I didn’t have a life jacket, I opened the seat and used it as a buoy. I stayed calm and took off whatever heaviness I wore, like boots and belts. I did everything to stay alive, ”he said. Gelle said he expected to be back at work in 24 hours and said he lost his phone in the crash.
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On Wednesday afternoon, rescue workers recovered the body of Colonel Olivier Andrianambinina, the Prime Minister’s Director of Security. The pilot remains missing.
Many in Madagascar applauded Gelle’s achievement, calling him a “hero”, an “exceptional athlete” and “a role model to follow” on social media.
The cause of the helicopter crash was “still unclear,” said the authorities. Gelle said gusts of wind destabilized the plane. The helicopter pilot and another passenger are still missing.
The helicopter was one of two that a government delegation flew to visit the site where a boat, the Francia, sank and at least 83 people drowned on board.
According to official information, more bodies were recovered on Wednesday off the island of Sainte-Marie in the northeast of the country. Fifty people survived and five people are missing.
The small cargo ship sank Monday while illegally carrying 138 people, according to a statement from the Maritime and River Port Agency on Wednesday.
The agency said that efforts to recover the more than 20 people who are still missing will continue.
The Francia sank about 20 kilometers from the town of Soanierana Ivongo on Monday morning.
“A flood in the engine room caused the massacre. Obviously the boat had exceeded its loading capacity, ”said Maurice Tianjara, deputy general director of the maritime agency.
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