Bombay Durpun - Macron hears accounts of despair in Mayotte after cyclone disaster

Macron, visiting the French overseas territory to assess the destruction wrought by Cyclone Chido, said he would extend the trip by a day to inspect remote areas, as rescuers raced to search for survivors and supply desperately needed aid.

"Mister President, nobody feels safe here," said one woman to Macron during his visit to the Mamoudzou hospital centre. "People are fighting over water."

While Macron talked with hospital workers, a staff member said under her breath: "Two more days and we won't be able to feed the patients anymore. I'm disgusted."

- 'Everything in my power' -

One man in the group called the president's attention to looting, saying thieves could easily enter houses that had their roofs blown off, despite a nightly curfew.

"Mister President, we fear that this is becoming like Haiti," a reference to the poverty-stricken, crime-ridden Caribbean country that has been in a state of emergency since March.

Macron listened to the accounts, touching the arm of a woman in tears to comfort her.

"I will do everything in my power so you have water, food and electricity," he said, his promises receiving a mixed reception of hope and incredulity.

Macron's visit came after Paris declared "exceptional natural disaster" measures for Mayotte late Wednesday.

Located near Madagascar off the coast of southeastern Africa, Mayotte is France's poorest region.

Macron's plane carried some 20 doctors, nurses and civil security personnel on board, as well as four tonnes of food and sanitary supplies.

"Don't leave too soon," airport security official Assan Halo pleaded with the president as he arrived. "We have nothing left."

- 'It's crazy' -

Some bystanders jeered the presidential convoy as it passed a petrol station where cars lined up in a long queue hoping to get fuel.

"It's crazy," said one Mayotte policeman asking not to be named. "You get the feeling the government completely underestimated the disaster's scale."

A preliminary toll from France's interior ministry shows that 31 people have been confirmed killed, 45 seriously hurt, and more than 1,370 suffering lighter injuries, but officials say that, realistically, a final death toll of hundreds or even thousands is likely.

"The tragedy of Mayotte is probably the worst natural disaster in the past several centuries of French history," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said.

In response to widespread shortages, the government issued a decree freezing the prices of consumer goods in the archipelago at their pre-cyclone levels.

Cyclone Chido, which hit Mayotte on Saturday, was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, according to meteorologists.

- 'Mass graves' -

An estimated one-third of Mayotte's population lives in shantytowns whose flimsy, sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection from the storm.

But staff soldiered on despite the hospital being out of action, with electricians racing to restore a maternity ward, France's largest with around 10,000 births a year.

Much of Mayotte's population is Muslim, whose religious tradition dictates that bodies be buried rapidly, so some may never be identified.

"There are open-air mass graves. No emergency services. Nobody is coming to get the bodies," said Estelle Youssouffa, a National Assembly deputy for Mayotte.

"In the shantytowns, people bury the bodies in shallow graves," one man in a crowd told Macron. "Yes, but where," asked the president. "Where?"

Assessing the toll is further complicated by irregular immigration to Mayotte, especially from the Comoros islands to the north, meaning much of the population is unregistered.

Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants, but authorities estimate the actual figure is 100,000 to 200,000 higher when taking into account undocumented migrants.

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V.Handa--BD