Storm death toll on Reunion island rises to 3

A photo shows flooded roads after the passage of cyclone Belal in Saint-Paul, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on January 15, 2024. Hundreds of thousands of people in La Reunion hunkered down in their homes under a strict lockdown on January 15 as a devastating storm that has already left one dead ripped along its north coast. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)

(AFP) - The death toll from a devastating storm that hit France's Indian Ocean island of Reunion rose to three Tuesday after the discovery of two more bodies, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

All three people killed by cyclone Belal were homeless people in the Indian Ocean island, Darmanin told the French parliament in Paris.

"It is believed that they refused emergency accomodation," he said.

One of the latest victims was found drowned in a river, and the other in a corrugated iron hut, Darmanin said.

Belal's fierce winds on Monday led authorities to order the population of 870,000 to stay indoors. The requirement was lifted Tuesday. Darmanin was to go to Reunion o Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on January 15, 2024.

Hundreds of thousands of people in La Reunion hunkered down in their homes under a strict lockdown on January 15 as a devastating storm that has already left one dead ripped along its north coast. 

© Agence France-Presse