Maputo [Mozambique], December 20 : The death toll from Cyclone Chido in Mozambique has increased to 73, the National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management stated, as per Al Jazeera.
At least 66 of the deaths occurred in the northern Cabo Delgado province, the disaster centre said on Thursday.
Four were killed in Nampula province and three in Niassa, further inland, it said, adding that one person was missing.
More than 540 people were reported injured by the cyclone, which brought winds of approximately 260km per hour and heavy rainfall of about 250mm in 24 hours, Al Jazeera quoted the authorities.
More than 39,100 homes were destroyed and more than 13,400 others partially destroyed, it said. More than 3,29,500 people were affected by the storm, Mozambique's disaster centre noted. Chido struck a part of northern Mozambique that is frequented by cyclones.
UNICEF's Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said the situation across large swaths of northern Mozambique can be described as "devastation".
"This is an area of the country where many, many people are already living in extremely precarious circumstances. Mozambique is a country where we already have 3.4 million children in need of humanitarian assistance. Even before this crisis, many people, including children, families, have lost everything. We saw houses, whole villages completely smashed to smithereens, really. So people need shelter," he told Al Jazeera.
From Mozambique, the cyclone moved into Malawi where it killed 13 people and injured dozens of others, according to the disaster management agency there, as per Al Jazeera.
Chido made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday after tearing through the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. At least 31 people were reported dead in the French overseas territory of Mayotte, and more than 1,500 people were injured, including more than 200 critically, French authorities said, as per Al Jazeera.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor