Cyclone Dina kills five in Mauritius

Saint Denis, Reunion (PANA) - Mauritius was Wednesday recovering from the passage of tropical cyclone Dina, which killed five people and caused considerable damage to houses, telephone and power lines.
Much of the island was deprived of electricity Wednesday, but the National Electricity Company (CEB) said it could restore up to 40 percent of the network in the coming days.

The country was also cut off from the outside world for more than 10 hours, as more than 50,000 telephone lines were seriously damaged.

The cyclone hit Mauritian coasts on Tuesday night at a speed of 206 km/hour.

The island's inhabitants were Wednesday assessing the damage and cleaning the littered streets.

An extraordinary cabinet meeting was convened Wednesday morning to evaluate a report from a crisis committee chaired by Interior Affairs Secretary Suresh Seebaluck.

The Mauritian daily, l'Express, quoted the minister of Social Security, Sam Lauthan, as admitting after the cabinet meeting that the country was facing a serious housing problem.

About 500 people were re-lodged in different refuge centres earlier Monday evening.

Air transport resumed Wednesday morning, with the first plane flying in from Australia, while other flights were expected from Paris, Rome, Melbourne, Durban and Hong Kong. Some of these flights had been blocked since Monday in Nairobi and Seychelles.

Schools remained closed Wednesday, as some school premises were flooded following 400 mm of rain.

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