France is racing to send rescue workers and supplies to Mayotte after the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century hit the tiny Indian Ocean territory – with fears that thousands of people could be dead.

The official death toll was 20, according to TV station Mayotte la 1ere, but French Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq earlier warned that any current estimates were likely major undercounts “compared to the scale of the disaster.” Those who ...