Cyclone Freddy: Bodies Scatter From Graves As Storm Rages In Mozambique

Tropical Cyclone Freddy left a trail of devastation in Mozambique after it caused floods which washed and scattered bodies from graves.

BBC Africa reported that corpses from a cemetery on the banks of the Umbeluze river near Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, were swept from the ground and into nearby neighbourhoods and farms.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy made landfall in Mozambique as a severe tropical storm on Friday, 24 February. Africa News reports that the storm shook the southeastern African country blowing winds of up to 113km/h.

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Areas surrounding Umbeluze river in Boane District, 25 km southwest of Maputo, saw the ugliest side of Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The storm caused rivers to flood, and the water started seeping into a nearby cemetery. The water lifted bodies, washed and then scattered them on land near the graveyard.

The cemetery has been operational for over 30 years and contains many unidentified graves.

BBC Africa added that the washed bodies from the graves are putting Mozambicans in the affected areas at risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

Residents within the Boane district spent the whole weekend clearing and removing the corpses from their homes, farms, and neighbourhoods.

Africa News reported that Tropical Cyclone Freddy stormed Mozambique through Vilankulo, in the coastal district of Inhambane Province, southeast of the country. Maria Vasco Timbe explained to the publication the extent of the damage caused by the violent storm.

“My son Nelson came and said to me: Mama at home, you won’t like what you see. Then I came home and really saw that everything was destroyed. 

“No blankets, no food. I couldn’t use anything in there. I started thinking, how am I going to start building again because from where I stand, it is not possible. How am I going to do it? I started to cry when I saw that my children would not go to school because they no longer had books and exercise books.”