Cyclone Idai death toll crosses 250 in Zimbabwe; over 200 missing - IOM

At least 259 people were killed in Zimbabwe by Cyclone Idai, and some 217 are missing, the U.N. migration agency said on Friday. Hundreds of people had been injured and authorities had confirmed that 16,000 households had been displaced, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement.

An estimated 200,000 people in Zimbabwe are likely to need urgent food aid for the next three months after their district was hit by Cyclone Idai, World Food Programme spokesman Herve Verhoosel had said on Thursday.

"It looks like the situation in Chimanimani - the hardest hit district in Zimbabwe - is very bad. Some 90 per cent of the district has been significantly damaged," he told a news conference in Geneva.