When Cyclone Chido ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure, it also exposed deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population. Thousands of people who have entered the island illegally bore the brunt of the storm that tore through the Indian Ocean archipelago — France's poorest

In a clip published Thursday by online news outlet Brut, Macron angrily told an inhabitant of Mayotte, an island in the Indian Ocean, that the territory would be “10,000 times” worse off without the French state — comments that were swiftly slammed as neocolonialist.

French president Emmanuel Macron has sworn during an exchange as he was heckled by angry residents of a Mayotte neighbourhood ravaged by cyclone Chido, telling them: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in s***”.

French President Emmanuel Macron was due on Friday to visit shantytowns in Mayotte ravaged by Cyclone Chido on the second day of a visit where he has faced calls to speed up relief to the Indian Ocean archipelago.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the French territory of Mayotte on Thursday to assess damage from the most powerful storm to hit the area in nearly a century.

Cyclone Chido not only ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure but also laid bare deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population. Authorities in Mayotte, France's poorest territory,

People in storm-ravaged Mayotte implored French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to do more to help as he toured the overseas territory, where scores are feared dead in the rubble left by Cyclone Chido.

The reported death toll stood at 35 on Friday, even though authorities have said they know that is a dramatic undercount.