After his helicopter crash, a Madagascar minister swims 12 hours to safety

A Madagascar minister survived the crash of a helicopter carrying him and others off the island's northeastern coast, after swimming for 12 hours to reach shore.. Get the details.

A minister of the Republic of Madagascar and another person managed to survive the crash of their helicopter and others off the northeastern coast of the island, after swimming for 12 hours to reach shore.

Police and port authorities said the search was continuing for two other passengers after Monday's accident, while the cause of the accident was not immediately clear.

- Ministry of National Defense Madagascar (@MDN_Madagascar) December 21, 2021

Port Authority chief Jean-Edmond Randrianantina said State Police Minister Sergey Gilli and fellow police officers had made landfall in the coastal town of Mahambo separately on Tuesday morning, having managed to get off the plane themselves.

In a video he posted on social media, the 57-year-old looked exhausted as he lay in a chair.

"The time for my death has not yet come," the general said, adding that he was cold but not injured.

In an effort to find other people on board the helicopter, the minister returned to the site of a shipwreck off the northeastern coast on Monday morning.

Police chief Zavisampatra Ravovi said on Tuesday that at least 39 people had died in the disaster.

Ravoavi told AFP earlier that Geely had used one of the helicopter's seats as a flotation device.

"He's always had great stamina in sports, he's kept that rhythm as a minister, just like a 30-year-old whose nerves are steel," he said.

Gele became a minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle in August after serving in the police for three decades.