{"id":123964,"date":"2021-12-22T11:45:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T10:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/?p=123964"},"modified":"2021-12-22T13:12:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T12:12:48","slug":"madagascan-minister-swims-for-12-hours-to-safety-after-helicopter-he-was-crashed-at-sea-killing-39-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2021\/12\/22\/madagascan-minister-swims-for-12-hours-to-safety-after-helicopter-he-was-crashed-at-sea-killing-39-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Madagascan minister swims for 12 hours to safety after helicopter crashes at sea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Madagascan government minister, Serge Gelle, has revealed how he swam for 12 hours to safety after his helicopter crashed at sea during a rescue mission.<\/p>\n<p>The minister and his team had been scouting an area in the north-eastern part of the country where a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2021\/12\/13\/airlines-to-pay-3500-fine-per-unvaccinated-passenger-says-ghana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passenger<\/a> boat had sunk before the accident happened killing 39 people.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not my time to die,&#8221; An exhausted Police Minister, Serge Gelle said as he recovered on a stretcher.<\/p>\n<p>Two other security officials travelling with him in the helicopter also survived the crash.<\/p>\n<p>The accident occured on Monday, December 20, and even though the cause of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2021\/12\/21\/uruguayan-plane-crash-survivor-recalls-turning-into-cannibal-and-eating-his-friends-while-waiting-for-rescue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crash<\/a> hasn&#8217;t been revealed, Gelle, 57, said after the crash he swam from &#8220;7:30 last night, until 7:30 this morning,&#8221; to Mahambo.<\/p>\n<p>He said he had no injuries but added that he was feeling cold.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I 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,&#8221; Gelle told villagers at Mahambo.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-2.jpg 976w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-2-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 976px) 100vw, 976px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, December 21, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina took to Twitter to mourn those who died and also paid tribute to Gelle and the other two officers, who arrived in the seaside town of Mahambo separately.<\/p>\n<p>Police chief Zafisambatra Ravoavy told news agency AFP that Gelle had used one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2021\/12\/08\/helicopter-crashes-with-indias-defence-chief-wife-12-others-on-board\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helicopter<\/a>&#8216;s seats as a flotation device.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123968 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4-300x224.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4-1024x765.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4-768x574.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-4-86x64.jpeg 86w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He has always had great stamina in sport, and he&#8217;s kept up this rhythm as minister, just like a 30-year-old&#8230; he has nerves of steel,&#8221; Ravoavy said.<\/p>\n<p>Gelle had served in the police for three decades before his appointment in August appointment as minister of police.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123967 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3-300x224.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3-1024x765.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3-768x574.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-3-86x64.jpeg 86w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-123969 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5-300x224.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5-1024x765.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5-768x574.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/kunlenet07\/2021\/12\/22\/Serge-Gelle-5-86x64.jpeg 86w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Madagascan government minister, Serge Gelle, has revealed how he swam for 12 hours to safety after his helicopter crashed at sea during a rescue mission. The minister and his team had been scouting an area in the north-eastern part of the country where a passenger boat had sunk before the accident happened killing 39 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":123966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[2978,763,12638,25642,7221],"class_list":["post-123964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","tag-madagascar","tag-plane-crash","tag-sea","tag-serge-gelle","tag-swimming"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Madagascan minister swims for 12 hours to safety after 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