At least six youths were killed when a giant tree they had sheltered under toppled over during a storm on an island off Guinea Bissau, a local official said Saturday. More than 800 youths had gathered on Caravela island for a festival when a storm surprised them on Friday, senior local official Aliu Balde told AFP. Many sought shelter under a silk cotton tree, which was then blown over by fierce winds, he said.
"We have recovered six bodies," Balde said, while noting that it was a provisional toll because several other people remained trapped under the huge trunk.
"We do not have a chainsaw to rescue them. We are working with what we have, machetes for the most part," he said. Caravela island is a four-hour trip by boat from the capital Bissau, and the country has no civil protection service.