Belgian family miraculously survives helicopter crash in Kenya: “I thought everyone was dead” | Abroad

The incident happened last Thursday in Great Rift Valley, a valley in western Kenya known for its lakes with thousands of flamingos. When the helicopter flew over one of those lakes with the family of five, it suddenly crashed. According to a testimony from the family from a hospital in Nairobi, the cause would have been a poor estimate of the water level.

According to daughter Coraline, the device hit the ground and everything started to vibrate. “We ended up in a shallow lake,” Father Christophe told the French-speaking public broadcaster RTBF. “I estimate it was about a meter deep. It turned out to be a salt lake (which has a high salt concentration, ed.).”

The helicopter had been torn to pieces by the crash and was half submerged. The pilot appeared to be seriously injured and had broken an arm and a leg. Still, he tried to help the family. He had them search for the few bottles of water they had on board and the satellite phone. However, when they found the phone after half an hour by feel, it no longer worked. “That drove us to despair,” said Christophe.

The pilot warned the family to get out of the water as soon as possible. Coraline then tried to build a raft out of cushions, which her parents struggled to pry off. She then tried to hoist the pilot onto the cushions. At a certain point, however, she ended up under water.

“I felt I didn’t have much air and wondered if I was going to die now,” she says. “I then told myself to calm down and absolutely manage to unfasten my seat belt. I was terrified of being pulled down into the wreckage, but suddenly I managed. I managed to get out of the water and saw that everyone was now on dry land and still alive. Even though I saw blood everywhere in the water.”

Her eldest brother Cyril was unable to speak and it turned out that he had a fractured skull.

Aurélien, the youngest son, said that after the crash he thought his entire family was dead. He didn’t hear a sound and couldn’t unfasten his seat belt. “I thought everyone was dead and I was the only survivor because I’m shorter than the rest. Then the pilot came to free me. At first I thought it was a crocodile, but the pilot told me they can’t live in salt lakes.”

Fortunately, the helicopter turned out to have a beacon and it was the boss of the helicopter company who noticed that something was not right. It eventually took three hours before a rescue helicopter arrived on the scene. The family turned out to be very lucky. According to the emergency services, the chance of survival in such an accident is small.

Mother Isabelle says so too. “Had one of us been unconscious, we wouldn’t have been able to do everything we’ve done. The reason we got out of the wreckage is because we helped each other.”