Shipwreck, Army helicopter crash kills 64

Published: 22/12/2021 – 11:31Changed: 22/12/2021 – 12:17

At least 64 people have been killed after a ship sank off the northeast coast MadagascarThe Air Force helicopter involved in the rescue operation crashed on Monday, December 20, it was reported on Wednesday.

“Twenty-five bodies were recovered this morning in the suburbs of Sle Sainte-Marie, possibly due to sea currents, bringing the total death toll to 64,” Gendarmerie General Zafisambatra Ravoavy confirmed to AFP.

The ship was carrying about 130 passengers, 50 of whom were rescued. About fifteen people are missing and the search continues.

The timber boat sailed from the small town of Antzera on Monday morning to Sonirana-Ivongo, about 100 kilometers south of the coast. Maritime officials said the passengers were not allowed to board.

“According to the initial report of our agents on the site, there may have been a technical problem with the engine,” explained Adrian Fabrice Ratsimbasafi, a representative of the APMF in Sonirana-Ivongo. “The boat found itself at the mercy of the waves and ran off a cliff,” he added.

The day turned even more dramatic when an Air Force helicopter crashed on the coast, leaving two people missing and two survivors, including Gendermary’s Secretary of State, who swam ashore for nearly twelve hours. .

There were three genders in the helicopter. One of them, the ousted Secretary of State and General Serge Kelly, survived. According to these sources, two other genders, including the pilot, are missing.

Helicopter seat cushion as lifeline

The helicopter was en route to the small town of Andersraga when the ship crashed Monday morning. The minister and director of the Maritime Commission, Jean, said the remaining Secretary of State and Gendermey, who had been ejected from the helicopter, had been found separately by residents on the coast of Mahambo, about 75 km north of the large port city of Tomasina in eastern Madagascar. -Edmund Randryantenina.

According to him, the two were “separated at sea. They were not together”.

In a video aired on social media, Serge Gellé was rescued by locals, saying, “My time to die has not yet come, thank God” and “For the villagers and fishermen of Makambo”.

Drawn features, tiredly dressed and lying in a deck chair, the 57-year-old General Minister of Gendermary noted, “no injuries, only cold.” I can return to work in 24 hours, ” he said.

“He’s a character soldier,” General Ravi, who worked with General Kell for a long time, told AFP.

“He always played the game with great endurance, and even when he was a minister, he adhered to that rhythm as a 30-year-old. He has steel determination. He was rejected by the waves. He did not give up.”

General Kelley was one of President Andrei Rajolina’s newcomers and, after more than 30 years in Gendermary, entered government following his last reshuffle in August.

The Madagascan gendermari pointed out that the circumstances of the helicopter crash were not immediately known. The search for the two missing continued.

With AFP