French President Emmanuel Macron faced widespread frustration and anger from Mayotte residents during his visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is still struggling with devastation from the strongest cyclone to hit the region in almost a century.
On Friday morning, Macron visited a neighborhood in Tsingoni on the main island of Mayotte, where people remain without access to drinking water and telephone services almost a week after Cyclone Chido.
As he walked through the area, some people shouted, “We want water, we want water!”
With 320,000 inhabitants and an estimated 100,000 additional migrants, Mayotte is France's poorest department. The cyclone devastated entire neighborhoods as many people ignored warnings, thinking the storm would not be that strong.
Don't see the embed above? Watch the furious exchange here.
The tension was palpable on Thursday evening when Macron was met with boos from several dozen residents of Pamandzi on the island of Petite-Terre during the last stop of his first day in Mayotte.
People expressed frustration with the slow pace of aid efforts, and one woman made an impassioned plea and objected to Macron's attempts to put a hand on her shoulder or take the microphone to respond.
Macron finally got the microphone from someone else and said: “I have nothing to do with the cyclone. You can blame me, (but) it wasn't me!”
Addressing the crowd, he admitted he was in a difficult situation.
“You went through something terrible. Everyone is fighting, regardless of skin color,” he said, calling for unity.
Macron, in turn, became angry, shouting that if it weren't for France, the people would be in “10,000 times worse shit.”
The French president added: “There is no place in the Indian Ocean where people would receive such help!” A woman's voice could be heard saying “we disagree.”
Dozens of health care workers are neglected
Macron is known for his appetite for debate and is used to being in crowds and confronting people who are angry with him. He explained that he stayed in Mayotte for two days out of “respect and consideration” for the population.
On Friday morning, the French president received a warm welcome in Tsingoni. People urged him to help, some posed for selfies with him and others showed him their children.
Meanwhile, the French army and local authorities scrambled to repair broken water pipes on the islands and deliver water to villages where it was lacking.
In the village of Mirereni, about 35 kilometers from the northern capital of Mayotte, Civil Security officers tried to remove a large, fallen mango tree that had damaged a water pipe.
The pipeline supplies water to approximately 10,000 inhabitants of three nearby villages. However, officials say repairs may take slightly longer than usual due to high temperatures that negatively affect equipment.
Locals fear that the lack of water will cause disease. Earlier this year, a cholera epidemic broke out on the island, resulting in at least 200 cases.
French authorities reported that at least 31 people were killed and about 2,500 people were injured during the cyclone, including 67 in serious condition. However, it is feared that hundreds or even thousands of people have died in the densely populated territory.
French Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said on Friday that 17 percent of hospital staff and 40 percent of all regional medical staff in the archipelago were still unknown.
“It's about 60-70 people,” she told the FranceInfo news program, emphasizing that a large part of the population still does not have access to telephone services.