By Michel Rose
Paris: Several hundred people, potentially thousands, are feared to have been killed by Cyclone Chido in the French archipelago of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, a senior local French official said on Sunday.
“I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands,” Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said on local media channel Mayotte La 1ere.
A devastated hill on the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after Cyclone Chido hit. Credit: AP
Asked about the death toll of several hundred, the French Interior Ministry said “it will be difficult to account for all victims” and said a figure could not be determined at this stage.
Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte overnight, Meteo-France said, bringing winds of more than 200km/h and damaging government buildings, a hospital and makeshift housing. The forecaster said it was the strongest storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years.
“My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrific few hours, and who have, for some, lost everything, lost their lives,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Aerial footage shared by the French gendarmerie showed the wreckage of hundreds of makeshift houses strewn across the hills of one of Mayotte’s islands, which have been a focal point for illegal immigration from nearby Comoros.
In the last few decades, thousands of people have attempted to cross from Comoros, off the coast of East Africa, to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.
More than 100,000 undocumented migrants live in Mayotte, according to the French Interior Ministry.
It was difficult to ascertain the precise death toll after the cyclone, which also raised concerns about access to food, water and sanitation, authorities said.
Rescue workers clear an area in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido caused extensive damage.Credit: AP
“For the toll, it’s going to be complicated, because Mayotte is a Muslim land where the dead are buried within 24 hours,” a French Interior Ministry official said earlier.
Located nearly 8000 kilometres from Paris and a four-day trip by sea, Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has grappled with gang violence and social unrest for decades.
About 77 per cent of the people in Mayotte live below the French poverty line.
Tensions were stoked earlier this year by a water shortage.
French Army soldiers patrolling Mayotte after the cyclone. Credit: AP
The cyclone then hit northern Mozambique on Sunday, but the scale of damage was not clear. Internet monitor NetBlocks said on X that heavy rain and winds had damaged power and telecommunications infrastructure.
France colonised Mayotte in 1843 and annexed the whole archipelago, including Comoros, in 1904.
In a 1974 referendum, 95 per cent backed separation, but 63 per cent of people on Mayotte voted to stay French. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli declared independence in 1975. Mayotte is still ruled from Paris.
Reuters
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