Efforts are continuing to reach all victims of Cyclone Idai in southern Africa where a senior relief chief has warned of a water, sanitation and hygiene ticking bomb, as the scale of the emergency continues to unfold, and the official death toll rises.
Latest reports indicated that more than 400 are now confirmed dead in Mozambique alone, with a further 300 fatalities in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
In Geneva, Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that an estimated 300 square kilometres of land had been destroyed or submerged when 150 kilometre-per-hour-plus winds and floodwaters swept across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe from the night of 14 March.
In partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other UN agencies, IFRC is working with the authorities to provide assistance. (UNI)
