The storm may have killed hundreds in Mayotte

Mayotte
The storm is believed to have killed hundreds in Mayotte

TT

Published 2024-12-15 10.24

The cyclone has left great devastation in its wake, and many are feared dead. Photo: Doctors Without Borders Via AP/TT

Around 10 people have been confirmed dead after a cyclone swept through and caused massive destruction on the French island group of Mayotte - but local leaders fear the death toll is far higher than that.

Now the storm is thundering in over the coast of Africa.

- I think there will definitely be hundreds, maybe closer to a thousand or several thousand, says the French prefect François-Xavier Bieuville about the death toll in Mayotte according to AFP.

So far, 14 deaths have been confirmed.

Images in the French media show how neighborhoods built as shantytowns have been razed to the ground. All the particularly vulnerable buildings - with close-standing tin sheds - have been destroyed, according to the French prefect's crisis staff.

"There is no longer anything left," the staff announced, according to Mayotte la 1ère, a local branch of France's public service media.

One third of the archipelago's population lives in such areas. The cyclone has also cut electricity and water lines and disrupted communications. Hundreds of people have been taken to hospital.

Mayotte is an island group located off the east coast of Africa, northwest of Madagascar. The islands have been ruled by France since the mid-19th century and are the country's poorest region.

The cyclone, which has been named Chido, has continued west and reached the coast of Mozambique on Sunday morning.

"Many homes, schools and healthcare facilities have been partially or completely destroyed," reports the UN aid agency Unicef.