Coronavirus: SOS Taxi, free night taxis in Antananarivo for the sick

Audio 01:37

At the wheel of his 4L, dressed in protective gear, Hervé, a 29-year-old taxi driver. He volunteers for SOS Taxi in Antananarivo, Madagascar. RFI / Sarah Tétaud

Text by: Sarah Tétaud Follow

5 mins

It is a solidarity initiative launched two weeks ago by the Madagascan diaspora in France. This involves setting up a free night taxi service for Antananarivo sick with Covid-19 because it has become difficult to find a means of transport in an emergency, as soon as night has fallen since the implementation of the curfew.

Publicity

Read more

From our correspondent in Antananarivo,

At the beginning of August, two Malagasy cousins, the two singers of the pop-urban group Afrogasy, established in France for years but still very connected to their Big Island, launched an appeal for donations with a kitty on social networks to help the inhabitants of Antananarivo.

One of them, James, said: “  I kept abreast of everything that is happening in Madagascar. We saw following the Covid-19, that the transport situation was complicated. Under these conditions, unfortunately, not everyone can go to the hospital. And we said to ourselves : "  Hey, maybe it's time to launch the free transport initiative . " "

Indeed, with the curfew in place since March and the suspension of public transport since early July in the capital, it has become difficult to find a means of transport in an emergency, after dark. The online prize pool raised 550 euros in donations. Enough to set up a taxi service for at least a few weeks to help people in need.

Taxis proud of their work

And that's how SOS Taxi was born two weeks ago. Recognizable by their signage, partner taxis benefit from the leniency of the police to circulate during the curfew. Hervé is proud to participate in the adventure. With his 40-year-old 4L, he is one of the two drivers of the young platform.

“  Monday at 9 p.m., the SOS Taxi call center calls me. I am informed that I must go pick up a patient in Itosy, in the suburbs. So I put on my protective gear, put on my mask, my visor, and I left. On the spot, I discovered a crowd around the patient. He was in a coma. We put him in the taxi. And we had to do 2 hospitals before finding one that could take our patient in intensive care.  "

If the service was designed to transport patients with coronavirus, to the call center, we know how to remain open-minded: “  There are also exceptional situations. Like the woman who was pregnant and was almost giving birth. There was no ambulance, but there was SOS Taxi.  "

The initiative is intended to be maintained throughout the duration of the pandemic.

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Madagascar
  • Transport
  • Coronavirus
  • Health and medicine
  • Africa

On the same subject

Madagascar: the president calls for the "responsibility" of the reconfined Tananariviens

Reportage

Madagascar: a return to confinement impossible for many inhabitants of Tana