These Malagasy seasonal workers had just finished harvesting cloves and were returning to their families for Christmas: 85 of them were killed in a shipwreck in the northeast of the island. The goods transport boat which wrecked Monday, December 20, a wooden boat twelve meters long, was not authorized to embark passengers but nevertheless had 138 people on board, said Thursday the maritime authorities. It had left the small town of Antseraka in the direction of Soanierana-Ivongo, less than a hundred kilometers further south, and ran aground very close to its destination.“The death toll rises to 85, including 21 bodies that were recovered”Gendarmerie General Zafisambatra Ravoavy told AFP. Fifty people were saved, mainly people who were on the deck of the boat according to a maritime official, and three people remain missing.
Investigation
According to the first elements of the investigation, the engine would have had a technical problem. “The boat found itself at the mercy of the waves and ran aground on a reef”, before taking the water, had specified Adrien Ratsimbazafy, of the Maritime and River Port Agency (APMF). “Personal effects, identity cards and money were found by the emergency services“Alban Menavolo, the young mayor of Soanierana-Ivongo, told AFP.
“These Malagasy had gone to harvest the cloves, a little further north of the port of departure, and by taking the boat, they intended to join their families with the money they won, for the end of the year celebrations.”
Alban Menavolo, the mayor of Soanierana-Ivongoto AFP
The distance between the two localities is covered in just over two hours by boat, against at least eight by bush taxi, according to several residents. The clove season, one of Madagascar’s main export products along with vanilla, lasts from October to the end of December. These dried flower buds, called cloves, are used in cooking but also for their therapeutic properties.
Helicopter crash
A mass is scheduled for Thursday, December 23 for the deceased and the flags are at half mast across the country. President Andry Rajoelina announced Tuesday 21 this national day of mourning, to mark the tragedy of this shipwreck and a helicopter crash that left two people missing on the same day. Monday evening, a helicopter, which left the capital Antananarivo to go to the shipwreck area, crashed at sea, with the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, Serge Gellé, on board. Ejected from the aircraft, Serge Gellé and a gendarme survived, swimming for nearly twelve hours to reach the shore. Two other gendarmes, including the pilot, are missing. “My turn to die has not yet arrived, thank God”, General Gellé, 57, said shortly after being rescued by fishermen near Mahambo beach, about 75 kilometers north of Toamasina, the large port city in eastern Madagascar.