'Several hundred' feared dead after Cyclone Chido hits French territory of Mayotte

The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is "several hundred" and may run into the thousands, the island's top government official told a local broadcaster on Sunday.

France rushed rescue teams and supplies to its largely poor overseas department in the Indian Ocean that has suffered widespread destruction.

"I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we'll get close to a thousand. Even thousands ... given the violence of this event," Mayotte Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville told TV station Mayotte la 1ere.

He had previously said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years.

Bieuville said it was extremely difficult to get an exact number of deaths and injuries after Mayotte was pummelled by the intense tropical cyclone on Saturday, causing major damage to public infrastructure, including the airport, flattening neighbourhoods and knocking out electricity supplies.

The French Interior Ministry confirmed at least 11 deaths and more than 250 injuries earlier Sunday but said that was expected to increase substantially.

Mayotte, in the southwestern Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is France's poorest island and the poorest territory in the European Union. It has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands.

Bieuville said the worst devastation had been seen in the slums of metal shacks and informal structures that mark much of Mayotte. Referring to the official death toll so far, he said that "this figure is not plausible when you see the images of the slums."

"I think the human toll is much higher," he added.

Chido blew through the southwestern Indian Ocean on Friday and Saturday, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in the cyclone's path, though, and took the brunt. Chido brought winds in excess of 220 km/h, according to the French weather service, making it a Category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.

Later, Chido made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland, and there were fears for more than two million people in the country's north who could be impacted, according to authorities there.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his "thoughts" were with the Mayotte people, and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was due to travel to Mayotte on Monday. Retailleau had warned on Saturday night after an emergency meeting in Paris that the death toll "will be high," while newly appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office on Friday, said infrastructure had been severely damaged or destroyed across Mayotte.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims while on a visit Sunday to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Rescuers and firefighters were sent from France and the nearby French territory of Réunion, and supplies were also rushed in on military aircraft and ships. Damage to the airport's control tower meant only military aircraft were able to fly in.