France’s Macron extends visit to cyclone-hit Mayotte after locals vent anger

French President Emmanuel Macron extended his visit to cyclone-devastated Mayotte on Friday after angry residents vented exasperation and despair over the scale of the disaster.

Locals jeered and shouted their grievances on Thursday during Macron’s visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, five days after Cyclone Chido left a trail of destruction in its wake.

“I decided to sleep here because I considered that given what the population is going through,” leaving the same day could have “installed the idea that we come, we look, we leave,” he told reporters late on Thursday.

“It is a mark of respect, of consideration.”

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Hundreds feared dead as Cyclone Chido hits Indian Ocean French island of Mayotte

Hundreds feared dead as Cyclone Chido hits Indian Ocean French island of Mayotte

He replied testily, though, to a jeering crowd that chanted for his resignation and accused his government of neglecting Mayotte, which is some 8,000km (5,000 miles) from metropolitan France.