Three days after Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte, rescue teams are engaged in a race against time to find possible survivors. The toll, still provisional, shows 22 deaths, but this figure could rise. The archipelago is still almost completely cut off from everything, without water or electricity. It is from the island of Reunion, located 1,400 km as the crow flies, that aid is coordinated. Reporting from military air base 181 at Saint-Denis airport in La Réunion. Reporting.
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With our special correspondents in Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Nicolas Feldmann And Jad El Khoury
In a large hangar at the air base, soldiers are busy storing dozens of packs of water on pallets. “ We do that, we are there, we try to maximize freight to provide maximum support », Explains one of the soldiers.
The pallets are then transported onto the tarmac to be loaded onto the A400M military aircraft. Every day, between four and five military planes fly back and forth between Reunion And Mayotte. Commander Florence, chief of staff of air base 181, specifies: “ The priorities are sequenced in two stages: first, relief personnel, then food to help the population. »
A little further on, Commander Gilles Charpentier invites us to board another plane, a civil security Dash 8, ready to take off. “ Loading has been completed. We loaded nine pallets of material humanitarian and food », he announces.
At the rear of the plane, these nine pallets are accompanied by 19 passengers. “ There are civil security soldiers specialized in rescue and clearance. On Friday, we began deploying our teams for relief missions », specifies Commander Charpentier.
A few minutes later, the Dash 8 ignited its engines and took off for Mayotte, almost two hours away. On its return, the plane will make new rotations to continue delivering aid and relief.
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