The toll is increasing after the devastating passage of Cyclone Belal on Monday. The bodies of two other homeless people were found in Reunion, bringing the number of deaths on the French island in the Indian Ocean to three, Gérald Darmanin announced on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, we have clearly discovered two other bodies which are believed to be those of homeless people who had refused emergency accommodation. There were therefore three deaths during this cyclone,” said the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, who was speaking during questions to the government in the National Assembly.
Three homeless people dead
One of the homeless people was discovered dead by drowning in the bed of a river near which he had set up a tent in the Salazie cirque, in the center of the island, and a second in a sheet metal hut in Tampon (south), we learned from the minister’s entourage. The body of another homeless person was discovered in Saint-Gilles (west) in the first hours of the cyclone passing through the overseas territory on Monday.
The red alert requiring residents of Reunion Island to stay at home due to Cyclone Belal was lifted on Tuesday morning. It then swept Mauritius with torrential rains and violent winds, killing at least one person on the island.