A 57-year old minister from Madagascar was forced to swim for 12 hours to the shore after surviving a helicopter crash.
The minister of state police,Serge Gelle, was among the two survivors of the crash that occurred off Madagascar’s north-eastern coast.
Gelle and the other survivor, a warrant officer identified as Laitsara Jimmy Andrianarison, swam separately to the seaside town of Mahambo following the incident.
Four people were aboard the helicopter when the crash occurred. A search for the victims is ongoing.
The Madagascan authorities said that the survivors managed to eject themselves from the aircraft before it crashed.
“My time to die hasn’t come yet. I am cold but not injured,” Gelle told journalists as he relaxed after getting to the shore.
Photo: Twitter|Face2Face Africa
The helicopter was heading to the island’s Northeastern Coast to inspect a ship that capsized on Monday morning killing 21 people and leaving over 60 yet to be accounted for.
According to reports, the cargo ship was illegally carrying 130 passengers off the Coast when it sank.
The Maritime and River Port Agency said that at least people were rescued from the waters of the Indian Ocean.
The ship, Francia, had left the city of Antanambe, in the eastern Mananara North district in the early hours of Monday, said the report. It was heading south toward the port of Soanierana Ivongo.
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