Relief arrives as cyclone Gafilo departs

All but two passengers on a ferry that went missing on Monday, a day after tropical cyclone Gafilo first hit Madagascar, are presumed to have drowned, a senior official told IRIN on Thursday. The 92 passengers and 21 crew members on the "Samson" were travelling from the Comoran island of Anjouan to Madagascar's second port of Mahajanga when the cyclone struck. "This is very sad but we can safely say that we have searched for the boat without much success. Right now we are not very optimistic about finding any more survivors. The Comorans are the only survivors," presidential spokesman Raymond Ramandimbilahatra said. He confirmed that two Comoran nationals were washed ashore in Madagascar on a makeshift life raft on Monday. "We have questioned the couple, and their account of what happened appears truthful. They were fortunate to have escaped after the boat flipped over," Ramandimbilahatra added. Gafilo made landfall near the city of Antalaha, in the northeastern part of the island, crossed northern Madagascar and on 8 March entered the Mozambique Channel, where it gained strength. A day later, the cyclone returned and hit the southwest of Madagascar, although no reliable information is yet available on the impact of its passage through the area. According to meteorological reports, Gafilo is currently dying out over land and expected to exit Madagascar in the southeast on Thursday. So far the death toll following the heavy downpour and high winds stands at 17, while 16 people have been hospitalised after suffering injuries, mainly from falling trees. The UN Children's Fund has released US $300,000 from emergency funds to procure and distribute relief items, and the World Food Programme has agreed to provide 40 mt of high energy biscuits, to be distributed in consultation with the government's disaster management centre. Two military transport planes sent by the French government arrived on Tuesday with 25 fire officers and 20 mt of aid on board, including water purifiers for 20,000 people, temporary shelter for 10,000 people, telecommunication equipment and other items from the French Red Cross. Libya donated 40 mt of mainly tents, blankets and clothes, which are being distributed in Antalaha and Maroantsetra, two of the hardest-hits districts. The Comoran government has called for three days of national mourning following the loss of the Samson.