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France is hit by the cyclone "Chido"/ So far 14 deaths have been recorded, their number is expected to increase

2024-12-15 21:46:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

France is hit by the cyclone "Chido"/ So far 14 deaths have been

Hundreds of people, possibly thousands, may have been killed by Cyclone Chido in the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, a senior French official said on local television on Sunday.

So far, only 14 victims and over 250 injured have been registered. 

"I think there will probably be hundreds, maybe even thousands, several thousands," Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told Mayotte La 1ere TV channel.

The French interior ministry said that "it will be difficult to identify all the victims" and that an exact figure could not be determined at this stage.

Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte overnight, the official weather service Meteo-France said, with winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour damaging shelters, government buildings and a hospital. According to Meteo-France, this was the most powerful storm to hit the island in over 90 years.

It turned out to be difficult to calculate the victims after the cyclone, which also caused concerns about access to food, drinking water and hygiene, the authorities said.

"For the number of victims, the situation will be complicated, since Mayotte is a Muslim territory where the dead are buried within 24 hours," said an official of the French interior ministry earlier. According to the ministry, there are over 100,000 undocumented immigrants in Mayotte.

It takes four days by boat to reach Mayotte, located nearly 8,000 kilometers from Paris. Mayotte is poorer than the rest of France and has faced gang violence and social unrest for decades.

About 77% of residents in Mayotte live below the poverty line.

Tensions had increased earlier this year due to the lack of drinking water.

The cyclone moved on Sunday towards northern Mozambique, where the effects of the impact were not yet clear.





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