She was seen as a miracle baby after being born in a tree which her mother had climbed to escape flooding, but nearly 26 years on Mozambican Rosita Salvador Mabuiango has died after a long illness, her sister told the BBC.
The sight of the newborn and her mother being winched to safety by helicopter amid the deluged landscape became one of the defining images of the Mozambique floods of 2000 – the country's worst ever. Reflecting on Rosita's life, President Daniel Chapo described her as a symbol for girls in the country.
In February 2000, hundreds died and hundreds of thousands of others were forced from their homes after the Limpopo river burst its banks in southern Mozambique.
Rosita's mother, Carolina Cecilia Chirindza, was one of those caught up in the crisis. It was a Sunday afternoon about four o'clock, and the waters began rising, the Red Cross quoted her as saying later in 2000. After being lifted to safety by a military helicopter, Carolina and Rosita traveled to the US to raise awareness about the disaster.
On Monday, confirming the news of Rosita's death at 25, her sister Celia Salvador told the BBC that she had passed away after a prolonged illness. I'm extremely sad. She died of an illness I am unable to explain what it was.
Political analyst Charles Mangwiro described her death as a wake-up call for the government to improve service delivery in the entire health system in the country, emphasizing the need for better healthcare services for all Mozambicans.
The sight of the newborn and her mother being winched to safety by helicopter amid the deluged landscape became one of the defining images of the Mozambique floods of 2000 – the country's worst ever. Reflecting on Rosita's life, President Daniel Chapo described her as a symbol for girls in the country.
In February 2000, hundreds died and hundreds of thousands of others were forced from their homes after the Limpopo river burst its banks in southern Mozambique.
Rosita's mother, Carolina Cecilia Chirindza, was one of those caught up in the crisis. It was a Sunday afternoon about four o'clock, and the waters began rising, the Red Cross quoted her as saying later in 2000. After being lifted to safety by a military helicopter, Carolina and Rosita traveled to the US to raise awareness about the disaster.
On Monday, confirming the news of Rosita's death at 25, her sister Celia Salvador told the BBC that she had passed away after a prolonged illness. I'm extremely sad. She died of an illness I am unable to explain what it was.
Political analyst Charles Mangwiro described her death as a wake-up call for the government to improve service delivery in the entire health system in the country, emphasizing the need for better healthcare services for all Mozambicans.
