The Cyclone Shinto has caused the death of at least 120 people in Mozambique, according to a newest report released today by the Institute for Risk and Disaster Management in this southern African country.

The number of people counted injured also rose, reaching nearly 900 after the passage of the cyclone that struck Africa on December 15, a day after it caused severe damage in the small French archipelago of Mayotte.

In Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country which is among the poorest in the world, 110 people are recorded dead and the vast majority of the damage with 500,000 of the nearly 700,000 people authorities now estimate have been affected by the disaster.

The country, bordered by the Indian Ocean, is particularly exposed to extreme weather events. In 2019, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth had caused 700 deaths, millions of people affected and huge property damage.

Last year Mozambique was one of the regions hit by the worst drought in southern Africa in a century, according to the World Food Program, which estimated that the number of people in acute food insecurity in the region was 26 million.