BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) - Mozambique’s Minister of Land and Environment Celso Correia said on Thursday the death toll has risen to 242 in the country, after a cyclone ripped through southern Africa and triggered devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Earlier on Thursday Correia had said the number of people dead had risen to 217 and around 15,000 people still needed to be rescued.

Correia added that 30 percent of government displacement centers still have no food.