{"id":1148585,"date":"2021-12-24T00:34:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T05:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1148585"},"modified":"2021-12-24T00:34:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T05:34:36","slug":"madagascar-minister-claims-he-swam-12-hours-to-safety-after-helicopter-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/madagascar-minister-claims-he-swam-12-hours-to-safety-after-helicopter-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Madagascar Minister Claims He &#039;Swam 12 Hours&#039; to Safety After Helicopter Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmadagascar-minister-claims-he-swam-12-hours-to-safety-after-helicopter-crash%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1148585&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/madagascar-helicopter-crash-general-serge-gelle-dec21-21-getty-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Madagascar Police Minister Gen. Serge Gell\u00e9 told reporters on Tuesday he <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/madagascan-minister-swims-for-12-hours-after-helicopter-crashes-at-sea-during-cargo-ship-rescue-mission-12501835\">swam<\/a> for 12 consecutive hours in the Indian Ocean from Monday night through Tuesday morning until he reached a shore near Madagascar\u2019s Mahambo town after he survived a helicopter crash that left him stranded in the sea, Sky News reported Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am alive, I arrived safely in Mahambo and I am grateful to all fishers and villagers of Mahambo, also to the [local] hotel manager, Mr. Jason,\u201d Gell\u00e9 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MDN_Madagascar\/status\/1473178643224530946\">said<\/a> in a video recorded by an unidentified Mahambo local on the morning of December 21.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">C\u2019est avec une profonde tristesse que j\u2019ai appris le naufrage d\u2019un navire au large d\u2019Antsiraka et son terrible bilan. Mes pens\u00e9es vont aux victimes et \u00e0 leurs proches endeuill\u00e9s. <\/p>\n<p>Je prie solennellement pour le repos de leurs \u00e2mes. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nZzJsaYMtL\">pic.twitter.com\/nZzJsaYMtL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andry Rajoelina (@SE_Rajoelina) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SE_Rajoelina\/status\/1473275949538062340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI have been swimming from yesterday at 7:30 pm to today 7:30 a.m. It wasn\u2019t my time to die, thanks God [<em>sic<\/em>],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">\u2666\ufe0fLe GDI Serge GELLE, un des passagers de l&#8217;h\u00e9licopt\u00e8re accident\u00e9 hier a \u00e9t\u00e9 retrouv\u00e9 sain et sauf ce matin du c\u00f4t\u00e9 de Mahambo. <br \/>\u2611\ufe0f Les sapeurs sauveteurs de la #4\u00b0UPC ont \u00e9galement retrouv\u00e9 le carcasse de l&#8217;h\u00e9licopt\u00e8re au fond de la mer. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sP2abwTMwB\">pic.twitter.com\/sP2abwTMwB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Minist\u00e8re de la D\u00e9fense Nationale Madagascar (@MDN_Madagascar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MDN_Madagascar\/status\/1473178643224530946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Gell\u00e9, 57, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-africa-59749005\">traveling<\/a> in a Madagascar military helicopter on the evening of December 20 when it \u201ccame down after it caught a gust of wind,\u201d he said in the video, adding that he sustained no major injuries in the accident but was \u201cfeeling cold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would just like you to broadcast this video for my family to see, my colleagues to see, the government members to see. [I am] alive and well,\u201d Gell\u00e9, whose official title is&nbsp;Madagascar Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, said.<\/p>\n<p>Gell\u00e9\u2019s ill-fated helicopter was attempting to conduct a search and rescue mission for survivors of a recently sunken cargo ship on December 21 before it encountered its own misfortune. The police minister was joined on the helicopter by Madagascar Chief Warrant Officer Andrianarison Laitsara Jimmy, who also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SE_Rajoelina\/status\/1473275949538062340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1473275949538062340%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-africa-59749005\">survived<\/a> the crash and arrived on Mahambo\u2019s shore separately on Tuesday morning. Two other people aboard the aircraft when it went down \u2014 its pilot, Col. Hery Rakotomiliarison, and another Madagascar security officer named Olivier Andrianambinina \u2014 did not survive the accident.<\/p>\n<p>The cause of the helicopter crash remains unknown, Madagascar police and port authorities told reporters on December 22. Both Gell\u00e9 and Jimmy ejected themselves from the doomed aircraft as it went down on Monday evening, according to Madagascar port authority chief Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Gell\u00e9 had used one of the helicopter\u2019s seats as a flotation device,\u201d Madagascar Gendarmerie Gen. Zafisambatra Ravoavy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/world\/madagascar-minister-swims-12-hours-to-shore-after-helicopter-crash\">told<\/a> Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe has always had great stamina in sport and he\u2019s kept up this rhythm as minister, just like a thirty-year-old,\u201d Ravoavy remarked. \u201cHe has nerves of steel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gell\u00e9\u2019s helicopter crashed off Madagascar\u2019s northeastern coast on Monday as it initiated a search mission for shipwreck survivors just south of the coastal city of Antanambe, which lies roughly 90 miles north of Mahambo. Madagascar government officials have said the ship in question was carrying 130 passengers illegally before it sank in the Indian Ocean on the morning of December 20 after a hole in its wooden hull began to take in water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt [the ship] was registered as a cargo ship so was not authorized to carry passengers and Antanambe is not an official port,\u201d Jean Edmond Randrianantenaina, director-general of Madagascar\u2019s Maritime and River Port Agency, told reporters on December 23.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to the information we were able to gather, water entered the engine room. The water started to rise and it swallowed up all the engines,\u201d he revealed. \u201cThen the ship began to sink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least 64 people died in the shipwreck. Madagascar authorities have found 50 survivors of the accident so far, while 24 passengers remained missing at press time on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madagascar Police Minister Gen. Serge Gell\u00e9 told reporters on Tuesday he swam for 12 consecutive hours in the Indian Ocean from Monday night through Tuesday morning until he reached a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1148585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1148585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1148585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1148585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1148585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}