Deaths and extensive damage caused by a cyclone hitting Madagascar

Eleven people have died, and more than 7,000 others have been affected by Cyclone “Gamani”, which struck Madagascar’s northern tip on Wednesday morning, the National Risk and Disaster Management Office said.

Six people drowned and five others died as a result of houses collapsing or falling trees, authorities said. An earlier toll reported six deaths and 2,600 damage.

The office warned that the death toll was likely to rise.

On Wednesday night, Cyclone Gamani was reduced to a severe tropical storm.

General Ilak Andriakaja, director general of the National Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, told AFP that “similar hurricanes are rare. Its movement is almost constant. “When a hurricane stops in one place, it destroys the entire infrastructure.”