Madagascar cyclone claims 7

2005-01-28 14:23

Antananarivo - The death toll from the strong tropical storm, Cyclone Ernest, that hit Madagascar at the weekend has risen to seven, with the recovery of the bodies of four more fisherman off the island's southern coast, officials said on Friday.

Villagers late on Thursday fished out the corpses from waters in the Tsihombe region, where two bodies of two fishermen had been found earlier, said Doly Rajaonarivelo, chief of the Androy district which includes Tsihombe.

"We are trying to identify them so they can be returned to their villages," he said, adding that the death toll is likely to grow given that 79 fishermen, whose boats capsized in the storm, are still missing.

Poor weather in the area, due to the approach of a new, but less severe, tropical storm, Felapi, is hampering recovery and helicopter survey operations, Rajaonarivelo added.

The seventh death, which was confirmed on Thursday, was that of a 12-year-old boy who drowned in the southwest district of Tulear where floods also left 960 people homeless.

Madagascar was last hit by a deadly tropical storm in March 2004, when Cyclone Gafilo killed 241 people. In February of that year, Cyclone Elita killed 29 people on the island.

Cyclone season in Madagascar runs between December and March.

- AFP