ANTANANARIVO, March 17 (AFP) - At least 113 people were killed when cyclone Gafilo ripped across northern Madagascar 10 days ago, rescue officials on the Indian Ocean island said Wednesday, releasing a new toll.

The storm also left some 238,000 homeless and 162 people were still listed as missing, including 96 of the passengers and crew of a ferry from the nearby Comoro Islands that sank during the storm.

"As of today, 21 bodies have been recovered and three survivors have been found. The search is still under way," the harbourmaster in the northwestern port of Mahajanga, Jean Ralambo, told AFP.

Most of the 39 people added to the updated death toll drowned in floods caused by the cyclone.

The new toll does not, however, include the crew of a fishing boat that was found overturned in the mouth of the Betsiboka River that feeds into Mahajanga Bay after the storm.

Four of the boat's crew survived the capsizing of the Vega 9 trawler and seven bodies have been found, Ralambo said.

The company that owned the fishing boat has said 15 men were on board.

On Sunday, the government sacked the head of the National Rescue Council, Lucille Randrianarivelo, Interior Minister General Soja, said Tuesday.

"It's not the individual that's important, what we need is to revitalise the rescue coordination system. We need fresh blood," the minister told AFP.

Madagascar observed 24 hours of mourning Sunday for those killed in two cyclones -- Gafilo and Elita -- which have left well over 200 people dead or missing since February.

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Copyright (c) 2004 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 03/17/2004 06:35:56