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Cyclone Batsirai

Death toll from Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar jumps to 111

epaselect epa09705166 Madagascans walk amidst flooding from a tropical cyclone in the neighborhood of Ankorondrano Andranomahery in the capital Antananarivo, Madagascar, 23 January 2022. Heavy rains and wind from the tropical weather system crossed the island late 22 January 2022 causing flooding and landslides. According to the interior ministry at least 10 deaths have been reported from landslides. So far 500 people have been displaced by the storm. EPA-EFE/HENITSOA RAFALIA

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The death toll from Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar jumped to 111 on Friday from 92 reported earlier this week, the state disaster relief agency said.

The cyclone hit the Indian Ocean island late on Saturday, slamming the southeastern coastline before receding late on Sunday.

The disaster relief agency said that of the deaths, 87 had occurred in one area, the Ikongo district in southeast Madagascar. It said earlier this week it was still collecting details about what had happened in Ikongo.

Batsirai was Madagascar’s second destructive storm in two weeks, after Cyclone Ana killed 55 people and displaced 130,000 in a different area of the country, further north.

The island nation, with a population of nearly 30 million, was already struggling with food shortages in the south, a consequence of a severe and prolonged drought.

(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary; writing by George Obulutsa; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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