PARIS (Reuters) – French officials raised the death toll in Mayotte to 39 from 35, about 10 days after the islands were battered by a devastating cyclone.
Authorities have said thousands may have died in Storm Chido when it hit the islands, a French overseas region off the coast of East Africa. They have said efforts to count the dead may be complicated by people burying their loved ones quickly, per religious custom, and by the fact that many of the deceased may have been undocumented migrants.
The slow pace of aid and delays in the arrival of clean water – a flashpoint even before the disaster – have angered residents of Mayotte, France’s poorest territory located between Madagascar and Mozambique.
Mohamed Abdou, a doctor in Pamandzi, called France’s national day of mourning as a “political stunt” amid reports of historic neglect around infrastructure, electricity and distribution of aid, while other residents heckled President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week.
Mozambique has said 94 people died when the storm hit mainland Africa, while neighbouring Malawi has reported 13 deaths.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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