Madagascar cyclone toll rises
2004-03-11 17:29
Antananarivo - The cyclone that lashed north Madagascar at the weekend killed 36 people, and a ferry that had set off from the nearby Comoros during the storm was still missing, rescue services said on Thursday.
"The latest toll, established at 15:00 is 36 dead, 42 missing, 17 injured and 6 088 homeless," rescue service official Farah Rasoarimamonjy said.
"With regard to the Samson ferry, we can confirm that there were two survivors but we have no official information about the other passengers," she said.
"We cannot count them among the dead or the missing," she said.
The Samson set off on Saturday evening from the Comoros with 120 passengers and crew on board, bound for the northwest Madagascar port of Mahajanga.
It has not been heard of since Sunday night and Comoros Transport Minister and government spokesperson Ali Msaidie said on Thursday it had "almost certainly sunk."
- AFP