The Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, said that the government and international partners are helping the people affected by tropical cyclone Chido, which hit the northern part of the country.

"We have our INGD working at the moment, we have received support from various partners, I can share here the support of the Norwegian Embassy in terms of food and other products, building materials. There are trucks that will be arriving in the next few days from Beira, but we are working to re-establish life, the normality of these populations," said Silvino Moreno, as quoted by the newspaper RFI.

On a visit to the district of Eráti, in Nampula, the governor defended the need to build resilient houses. "We need to bring knowledge of better construction here and also help people understand how to do it because as it is, we're going to have problems even without cyclones," he said.

Silvino Moreno heads the government team in Nampula assessing the damage caused on Sunday by tropical cyclone Chido.

The new toll from the cyclone was 73 dead and 600 injured in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa.

"We're talking about more than 70 deaths, almost 600 injured and many houses that have been destroyed," said Bonifácio António, a technician from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), speaking to the media. The National Emergency Operations Center recorded at least 50 deaths in the district of Mecúfi alone, in Cabo Delgado province.

Cyclone Chido also caused the total or partial destruction of 36,207 houses, affecting 48 hospitals, 13 houses of worship, 186 power poles, nine water systems and 171 boats.

(Photo DR)