Antananarivo, Madagascar: Minister Madagascan is one of two people who survived around 12 hours to the beach Tuesday after their helicopter fell from the northeastern coast of the island, said the authorities.
The search was still ongoing for two other passengers after an accident on Monday, whose causes were not immediately clear, the police said and the port authority.
Serge Gelle, the state secretary of the country for the police, and fellow police reached the land in the Mahambo Seaside City separately on Tuesday morning, it seems after removing itself from the plane, said the head of Jean-Edmond Port Authority Randrianantina.
In a video distributed on social media, 57-year-old Gelle seemed to be lying out in the deck chair, still in a camouflage uniform.
“My time to die hasn’t come,” said the general, added him cold but not hurt.
♦ ️le GDI Serge Gelle, Un des Passagers de l’Hélicoptère Accidingé Hier A Été Retrové Sain Et Suf Ce Matin du Côté de Mahambo.
☑️ Les Sapeurs Sauveteurs de la # 4 ° Upc ont Également Retrouvé Le Carcasse de l’hélicoptère au fond de la mer. pic.twitter.com/sp2abwtmwb.
– Ministère de la Défense Nationale Madagascar (@mdn_madagascar) December 21 2021
The helicopter flew it and the others to check the location of the shipwreck from the northeast coast on Monday morning.
At least 39 people were killed in the disaster, police chief Zafisambarra Ravoavy said on Tuesday, in an increase from the previous toll after rescue workers took 18 more bodies.
Ravoavy previously told AFP that Gelle had used one of the helicopter seats as a flotation device.
“He always has a large stamina in sports, and he continues this rhythm as a minister, like thirty years old,” he said.
“He has a steel nerve.”
Gella became the minister as part of the cabinet reshuffle in August after serving in the police for three decades.