Cyclone Chido Death Toll In Mozambique Rises To 73

Cyclone Chido has killed at least 73 people in Mozambique, the National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management said Thursday, raising the death toll from the figure of 45 it announced the day before.

Chido made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday after tearing through the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte where hundreds and possibly thousands of people are feared to have been killed.

The cyclone struck Mozambique at the northern Cabo Delgado province, where 66 people were killed, according to the disaster centre’s updated toll.

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Four were killed in Nampula province and three in Niassa, further inland, it said. One person was missing.

More than 540 people were reported injured by the cyclone, which brought winds of around 260 kilometres (160 miles) an hour and heavy rainfall of around 250 millimetres (10 inches) in 24 hours, the centre said.

More than 39,100 homes were destroyed and more than 13,400 others partially destroyed, it said. More than 329,500 people were affected by the storm.

Chido struck a part of northern Mozambique that is regularly battered by cyclones and is already vulnerable because of conflict and underdevelopment.

UNICEF’s Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor has said there are concerns about the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria.

After sweeping over Mozambique, the cyclone moved into Malawi where it killed 13 people and injured nearly 30, according to that country’s disaster management agency.

AFP