Madagascar's police chief swims 12 hours to shore after copter crash
Antananarivo (Madagascar): Madagascar's police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Gen. Serge Gell , 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who brought him to shore, according to officials.
Another passenger, Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Laitsara, also swam to the beach at Mahambo.
My turn to die has not yet come, thank God. I'm well. I'm just cold, said Gelle in a video posted to Twitter by Madagascar's defense ministry. "But I'm sad because I don't know if my friends are alive.
Gelle appeared on a lounge chair, still in his military camouflage, his hands pale and wrinkled by the water and the cold.
There were four of us in the aircraft. I was seated behind the pilot," he said of the crash on Monday evening.
"Not having a life jacket, I unfastened the seat and used it as a buoy. I stayed calm and took off anything heavy I was carrying like my boots and belt. I did everything to stay alive, he said. Gelle said he expected to be back at work in 24 hours and said that he lost his cell phone in the crash.
Many in Madagascar applauded Gelle's feat, calling him a hero an extraordinary athlete, and an example to follow on social media.
The cause of the helicopter crash remains undetermined, authorities said. Gelle said that gusts of wind had destabilized the aircraft. The helicopter pilot and another passenger are still missing.
The helicopter was one of two flying a government delegation to view the site where a boat, the Francia, sank, drowning at least 64 people on board.
On Wednesday 25 bodies were recovered off the island of Sainte-Marie, in the northeast of the country, according to officials.
The small cargo ship sank Monday while it was illegally transporting 138 people, according a statement Wednesday by the Maritime and River Port Agency.
Efforts continue to recover the more than 20 people still missing, said the agency.
The Francia sank Monday morning about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the town of Soanierana Ivongo.
A flood in the engine room caused the massacre. Obviously, the boat had exceeded its loading capacity, said Maurice Tianjara, deputy director-general of the maritime agency.
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Odisha woman raped twice in a day, dies after being thrown off four-storey building; 2 held
Paradip (Odisha) (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was raped twice in a day in separate places by her boyfriend and a stranger offering help and then thrown off a four-storey building, leading to her death, in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district, police said on Friday.
Police arrested both the accused and booked them under various sections of BNS for kidnapping, rape and murder.
"The incident took place on February 22 after the woman left her house with plans to elope with her boyfriend, who had asked her to come to a temple by promising to marry her. However, he took her to a secluded place, raped her and abandoned her at Rahama bus stand," Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Ankit Kumar Verma told reporters.
As the victim was waiting at the bus stand, another man hailing from Jharkhand, who was heading to nearby Paradip on his motorcycle, saw the hapless woman and offered help.
He, however, took her to the roof of his rented accommodation at a place in Paradip town and raped her again, the SP said.
The accused then threw the woman from the roof of the building, leading to her death, he said, adding her body was found the next morning.
The SP said the victim's brother lodged a complaint at Paradip Model police station on February 25, alleging that his sister was raped and murdered on February 22. An unnatural death case was registered on February 23 following the recovery of the woman's body.
Earlier, in the evening of February 22, the woman's brother had lodged a missing persons case at Tirtol police station when his sister did not return home.
BJD supremo and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Naveen Patnaik, condemned the incident and demanded justice for the woman and other victims of recent rape incidents.
"How many more innocent lives will be lost? From underage girls to differently abled young women, no one is safe. So, is the rule of law still in place in the state? The news of heinous crimes coming from Kanhari in Angul, Kuchinda in Sambalpur, and Paradip is deeply disturbing. Chaos everywhere, insecurity all around, O Mother!" he said in an X post.
"While the government delivers long-winded speeches on women's safety and law and order, the ground reality is extremely alarming. Even in broad daylight, an atmosphere of fear prevails. Despite repeated instances of such deplorable incidents, the government's failure to take any exemplary, stringent action is emboldening the criminals. The government should take proactive steps to spread awareness on women's safety and ensure the rule of law is upheld in the state," the former CM added.
