Cyclone Freddy returns killing 15 in Malawi, Mozambique

Fifteen people have died in Malawi and Mozambique as Cyclone Freddy hit the two countries with torrential rains and strong winds upon its return to southern Africa's mainland, authorities said on March 13, Report informs referring to AFP.

Police in Malawi said 11 people died in areas surrounding the southern city of Blantyre, where heavy rains triggered flooding as the cyclone made a comeback, just weeks after it first struck the continent.

At least 16 more people were missing and four injured, according to a preliminary count, police said.

Four more people died in neighbouring Mozambique, local authorities said, as an assessment of the damage was underway after the storm made its second landfall in the country on Saturday.

Richard Duwa, 38, said his sister in law's family was swept away by flash floods in Chilobwe, a township south of Blantyre.

"We got a call from the neighbours at around five am to say that 'your relations have been washed away by the rains'," Duwa, a government clerk told AFP.

"Unfortunately, we have just recovered one body, a small boy, but the remaining four are not to be seen."

According to the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Freddy, which formed off north-western Australia in the first week in February, was set to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.

It crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean and barrelled through Madagascar from February 21, crossing the island before reaching Mozambique on February 24.

Following what meteorologists describe as a "rare" loop trajectory, Freddy then headed back towards Madagascar before moving once more towards Mozambique.

During its first deadly visit to the country it affected about 166,000 people.