Zambézia: ‘Freddy’ death toll rises to 53

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Zambézia: ‘Freddy’ death toll rises to 53

2:33 CAT | 17 Mar 2023

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FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only

At least 53 people died as a result of Tropical Strom Freddy in Zambézia province, the worst affected by the cyclone. ‘Freddy’ totally or partially destroyed hundreds of homes and socio-economic assets, including schools and health units.

President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, who this Wednesday made a working visit to Zambézia to assess the situation, explained that the deaths were caused by house collapses, drowning and falling trees, among other causes.

The Mozambican head of state announced the figures in an address to the nation following the descent of Tropical Cyclone Freddy on the central and northern regions of the country since Saturday.

“Unfortunately, we have to report, so far, the occurrence of 53 deaths in this province,” President Nyusi announced, while cautioning that this was still a provisional figure.

The province also recorded the partial and complete destruction of 27,893 and 20,241 homes respectively, along with the destruction of 1,561 classrooms in 581 schools, affecting 122,812 students and 2,552 teachers.

“Almost all higher education institutions in Zambezia suffered damage, and many were left without prenises. In professional-technical education, many institutes were also left without a roof,” the president reported.

The health sector had seen the destruction of 52 health units, most of them in Zambézia, while intense rains had flooded more than 214,000 hectares of crops, as well as destroying roads, bridges and power lines, among other infrastructure assets.

Preliminary data indicate that ‘Freddy’ had in total affected more than 250,000 people, corresponding to around 50,000 families.

The city of Quelimane, the worst affected, had 49,150 displaced people now accommodated in 133 shelters.

Faced with this situation, Nyusi appealed to all Mozambicans to demonstrate solidarity with the victims of the natural disaster.

Source: AIM