The authorities of Malawi announced on Thursday that the death toll from Cyclone Freddy, which struck the country in early March, might have exceeded 1,200, especially with fading hopes of finding survivors.

Malawi’s Commissioner for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs Charles Kalemba said in statements that, search operation with sniffer dogs are continuing by location, but they have been decommissioned in Blantyre, as crews on the ground felt they “had done the best that they could.” “Looking at the number of days that have gone by, the possibilities of finding anyone alive are slim,” Kalemba said, pointing out that at least 676 people died and 538 are still missing.

The cyclone, which formed in early February off the coast of Australia and traveled an unprecedented distance of more than 8,000 kilometers from the eastern to the western Indian Ocean – reaching countries in the south of the African continent, killed at least 676 people in Malawi, in addition to 165 people in Mozambique and 17 in Madagascar. (QNA)

Source: Qatar News Agency