The human toll of Batsirai in Madagascar has increased: three days after the passage of the cyclone on the island, the authorities now report 92 dead, according to a last count, updated on Wednesday February 9. This toll could worsen further, while some villages in the most affected areas remain cut off from the world.
Seventy-one victims have been identified in the district of Ikongo, in the east of the island, detailed the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), which compiles the elements reported from the most affected regions. , especially on the eastern coast of the Indian Ocean island. “It’s a disaster here”explained to AFP the deputy of this district, Brunelle Razafintsiandrofa, specifying that “most of the victims died as a result of the collapse of their homes”.
The country has registered more than 112,000 disaster victims and nearly 61,000 displaced persons, while numerous NGOs and UN agencies have begun to deploy resources and teams to come to the aid of the victims of these torrential rains and extremely strong winds.
In this country, one of the poorest on the planet, the tropical cyclone left a wake of destroyed or flooded houses, devastated health centers and schools and about twenty roads as well as seventeen bridges impassable, which greatly complicates the relief operations. “Paddy fields are damaged, rice harvests lost. This is the main crop of Malagasy people and their food security will be seriously affected in the next three to six months if we do not act immediately”said Pasqualina DiSirio, director of the World Food Program (WFP) in the country.
Many NGOs, including Action Against Hunger, Handicap International, Save the Children and Doctors of the World, had mobilized ahead of the cyclone, prepositioning equipment and medicines. Alongside the aid provided by the government, they provided assistance to the victims, fearing a worsening of the humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) fears that many victims are minors, in a country where they account for more than half of the population of nearly 28 million.