Several hundred people, maybe even thousands, may have been killed by Cyclone Chido in the French archipelago of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, a top local French official said via local media channel Mayotte La 1ere on Sunday.
"I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands," local prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said on the channel.
Asked about the death toll of several hundreds in Mayotte, the French interior ministry said "it will be difficult to account for all victims" and said figure could not be determined at this stage.