Madagascar minister swims for 12 hours to reach shore after helicopter crashes into sea

<p>
<strong>Beating all odds, a Minister from Madagascar swam for 12 hours to reach safely following a helicopter crash. Ironically, Serge Gelle, the country’s Secretary of State for Police, along with others was travelling to inspect the site of shipwreck off the north-east coast.</strong></p>
<p>
Gelle along with another survivor, a fellow police officer reached land in Mahambo, a seaside town, separately, after they had ejected themselves from the chopper, according to Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, Port Authority Chief.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="fr">
♦️Le GDI Serge GELLE, un des passagers de l'hélicoptère accidenté hier a été retrouvé sain et sauf ce matin du côté de Mahambo.<br />
☑️ Les sapeurs sauveteurs de la #4°UPC ont également retrouvé le carcasse de l'hélicoptère au fond de la mer. <a href="https://t.co/sP2abwTMwB">pic.twitter.com/sP2abwTMwB</a></p>
— Ministère de la Défense Nationale Madagascar (@MDN_Madagascar) <a href="https://twitter.com/MDN_Madagascar/status/1473178643224530946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>
The video clipping which has gone viral on social media shows the 57-year-old Minister on a deck chair exhausted, wearing his camouflage uniform. He said, “My time to die hasn’t come yet,” adding that he is cold but not injured.</p>
<p>
Police chief Zafisambatra Ravoavy informed the media that at least 39 people had died in the disaster, an increase from an earlier toll after rescue workers retrieved 18 more bodies.</p>
<p>
Ravoavy told AFP that Gelle had used one of the helicopter’s seats as a flotation device. Stating that the Minister “has nerve of steel”, he added: “He has always had great stamina in sport, and he’s kept up this rhythm as minister, just like a 30-year-old.”</p>
<p>
It was in August that Gelle had become a Minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle after serving in the police for three decades.</p>
<p>
The search for two other passengers was continuing following the crash which took place on Monday, the cause of which is not yet ascertained, the port and police authorities informed.</p>