by Nurat Uthman
France said it will impose a nighttime curfew on the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte starting on Tuesday evening, after the French overseas territory was devastated by a cyclone feared to have killed hundreds.
According to the latest official toll, 21 people are confirmed to have been killed by Cyclone Chido when it barreled into the island and its surrounding archipelago at the weekend.
But authorities fear that hundreds, and possibly even thousands, were killed, once the true scale of the toll is revealed, after the rubble is cleared and roads unblocked.
The health services are in tatters, power and mobile phone services have been knocked out, the airport closed to civilian flights, and there is mounting concern about how to ensure supplies of drinking water.
Cyclone Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide fueled by climate change, according to experts.
The curfew from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am local time (1900 GMT to 0100 GMT) is being put in place as a security measure to prevent looting, the French interior ministry said.
