Cyclone Idai: 300 to 400 dead bodies washed up on Mozambique road, eyewitness says as details emerge of Cyclone Idai’s human toll

Beira, Mozambique CNN — As many as “300 to 400” bodies line the banks of a road out of the city of Beira in Mozambique, according to an eyewitness account, and flood waters have formed an inland ocean that is visible from outer space. Taylor said the bodies were located on a 6-kilometer track of highway, where flood waters had created an inland ocean, submerging entire villages around a “densely populated” sugar cane plantation. At a press conference in Beira, Mozambique Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário said the official number of people killed in Mozambique had climbed to 293, adding that “we believe that figure will rise.” More than one week on from the storm’s initial impact, the United Nations confirmed that 259 lives were lost in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi. “The agony of not knowing what happened to your loved one in a disaster like Cyclone Idai is indescribable,” Diane Araujo, an ICRC delegate deployed to Beira, said in a statement. After lingering off the coast for days, gathering strength, Idai finally dumped a huge amount of water on Beira – a city of 500,000 people – destroying “90%” of the area, according to aid agencies.