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Dec 22, 2021 10:36 PM - The Canadian Press

Madagascar's police chief swims to shore after copter crash

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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. (Photo - Medagascar Defence ministry/Twitter)

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.

Officials said Gen. Serge Gelle, 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who brought him to shore.

Another passenger, Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Laitsara, also swam to the beach at Mahambo. Gelle described his swim to safety in a short video posted to Twitter by Madagascar's defense ministry.

Gelle appeared on a lounge chair, still in his military camouflage, his hands pale and wrinkled by the water and the cold.

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