A race against time is underway in Mayotte, where water and food are lacking. Additional relief is expected in the archipelago on Monday, December 16, to help the victims of this Indian Ocean territory devastated by a deadly cyclone on Saturday. The resigning ministers of the Interior and Overseas Territories, Bruno Retailleau and François-Noël Buffet, are due to arrive at the end of the morning in the poorest department in France, where the authorities fear at least “several hundred” of deaths. Follow our live stream.
Help from Reunion Island. An air and sea bridge was organized from the island of Reunion, a French territory 1,400 km away as the crow flies, to send medical and relief equipment and personnel. A total of 800 civil security agents are sent as reinforcements, with a field hospital and satellite transmission equipment. A first civil security plane landed in Mayotte on Sunday afternoon, particularly with medical equipment and blood bags.
“The hunger is starting to rise.” Many victims joined the accommodation centers opened before the cyclone struck on Sunday, reported Mayotte senator Salama Ramia. “But unfortunately there is no water, no electricity”she laments. “It is urgent that help arrives, especially when you see children, babies, to whom we have nothing concrete to offer”she declared on BFMTV, especially since all the fruit trees, such as mango trees, have been uprooted.
A human toll “very difficult” to establish. Rescuers expect to find many victims in the rubble of the highly populated shanty towns, particularly in the heights of Mamoudzou, said the city's mayor, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila. Teams “have started working to free up access to remote areas”Or “we still hope to find survivors”added the city councilor. “I think there will certainly be several hundred (…), even a few thousand” of deaths, declared the prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville.
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