A powerful cyclone has ripped across Madagascar, killing at least 31 people and plunging the port city of Toamasina into turmoil.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday with winds of up to 250 km/h, tearing through the country’s main commercial hub and leaving what officials described as “total chaos” in its wake.
Madagascar’s disaster management office reported that most of the victims died when homes collapsed under the force of the storm.
Entire neighbourhoods were left without power as lines snapped, trees were uprooted and roofs were ripped from buildings.
Emergency teams have evacuated dozens of injured residents and moved hundreds more from high‑risk areas around Toamasina, a city of 400,000 people.
Forecasters at the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre on Réunion said Gezani’s landfall was likely among the most intense recorded near Toamasina in the satellite era.
JN/APA