Cyclone unearths bodies from graves in Mozambique

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) – Flooding triggered by Tropical Cyclone Freddy has washed away bodies from a cemetery near Mozambique’s capital Maputo, according to local media reports.

The cemetery is located on the banks of the Umbeluze river, where raging waters swept away corpses to nearby residential areas.

Television channels showed images of bodies scattered in the open near inundated houses.

“My own brother’s body was swept out by the floods. It’s incredibly disturbing. I have seen this for the first time in my life,” Aderito Sena, an area resident, told Anadolu over the phone.

The cyclone made landfall in Mozambique last Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and floods that killed at least seven people and left behind a trail of destruction.

It has moved toward the Mozambique Channel with winds of up to 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour).

Authorities have shut Beira port as a precautionary measure, urging “trucks that are en route … to stay in safer places until the weather conditions improve,” according to a statement by the port management.

Several schools in areas at high risk of flooding also remain closed.​​​​​​​