India to send 40 tonnes of aid to Cyclone Winston-hit Fiji

NEW DELHI: India is sending at least 40 tonnes of medicines, food and tents through an Indian Air Force plane to cyclone-hit Fiji as the archipelago nation reached out for foreign help.

IAF is flying a C17 transport aircraft from Delhi to Chennai with about 20 tonnes of medicine and food. From Chennai, another 20 tonnes of tentage will be picked up and flown to Fiji, defence sources said.

Cyclone-devastated Fiji today said it was likely to need more foreign aid as the body count from the most powerful storm in its history climbed to 44.

Parts of the country remain paralysed after a massive tropical cyclone, Winston, struck the island nation over the weekend.

Tropical Cyclone Winston, the most powerful tempest ever documented in the southern hemisphere, made landfall over the Fijian archipelago on Saturday night with wind gusts that reached 200 miles per hour.

The storm razed villages and caused extensive flooding, driving thousands of people from their homes.