Hundreds feared dead

FRANCE used ships and military aircraft to rush rescue workers and supplies to its Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte after the island group was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century.

Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.

Cyclone Chido levelled entire neighbourhoods of metal shacks and other flimsy structures when it hit Mayotte, France's poorest department, on Saturday.

Entire hillside villages were reduced to a jumble of snapped trees and piles of corrugated metal and wooden frames of houses.

Authorities used military-style vehicles to clear trees from roads so rescuers and supplies can reach those in need.

French health minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said the official death toll stood at 14 but told France 2 television that was likely a major undercount "compared to the scale of the disaster".