PARIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people could have died in
Mayotte after a devastating cyclone and doctors are also bracing for a surge in disease, a dental surgeon at the islands' only hospital said on Tuesday.
Three days after
Cyclone Chido tore through the French overseas territory off East Africa, the hospital's emergency department has not seen large numbers of injured, leading them to fear the worst, Naouelle Bouabbas said.
"The fact that we don't see that many injured from the cyclone when everything has collapsed makes us think that all these people are still buried and are dead," she told Reuters in a video call from the islands.
"We expect thousands, tens of thousands would not surprise me," said Bouabbas, when asked about a possible death toll, adding there was no infrastructure in place yet to remove people from the rubble.
Authorities have said hundreds or even thousands could have died, but only 22 deaths had been confirmed on Tuesday morning, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital Mamoudzou, told French radio.
The Red Cross said on Tuesday that about 100,000 people were unaccounted for, including about 200 of its volunteers, after the cyclone battered the islands with 200 kph (124 mph) winds in the worst storm in 90 years.
https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW809118122024RP1/?chan=business-environment
