Cyclone death toll in France’s Mayotte ‘several hundred’ – top official

Rescue workers clear an area in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after Cyclone Chido caused extensive damage and fatalities (UIISC7/Securite civile via AP)

The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may be close to 1,000, the island’s top government official has said.

Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told TV station Mayotte la 1ere that “I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand”.