A minister in the Madagascar government miraculously survived after swimming for 12 hours following the crash of his helicopter into the sea during a rescue mission. Police Minister Serge Gilly was part of a team searching the northeastern coast of the country after a cargo ship sank while carrying 130 passengers illegally, resulting in at least 19 fatalities, according to the BBC. Officials reported that 66 others remain missing following the incident. Gilly told local media, "This is not the time to die," as debris from the helicopter was later found on the ocean floor. Two other security officials who were with him in the helicopter also survived.
The ship, called Francina, left the city of Antanamby in the early hours of Monday before heading south. Jean Edmond Randrianantina, director general of the maritime and river port agency, stated that it was registered as a cargo ship and was therefore not authorized to carry passengers, with Antanamby not being an official port. Randrianantina said, "According to the information we managed to gather, water entered the engine room, and the water began to rise and swallowed all the engines." He added, "Then the ship started to sink; we do not know exactly when the water began to rise, but our interventions began around 9 AM." Three boats from the national navy and maritime agency continue to search for the missing.
