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Hurricane Dorian: Bahamas defends response amid criticism

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Bahamian officials have defended their response to Hurricane Dorian after it devastated parts of the island chain last week, killing at least 43 people.

Residents on the Abaco Islands have accused the government of failing to provide assistance and prevent looting.

Officials denied there had been any cover up of number of deaths. The toll is likely to rise as hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are still missing.

Some 70,000 people were in need of food and shelter, the United Nations said.

Dorian ripped through the northern Bahamas as a category five hurricane with winds gusts of 300km/h (200mph) and huge storm surges.

Thousands of residents from the hardest-hit areas in the Abacos have been sent to the capital, Nassau, where officials say they may have to use tents or containers to house the victims.

Health Minister Duane Sands dismissed allegations that the authorities were covering up the number of victims, saying the body count was “not the priority”.

In Marsh Harbour on the Abacos, where 90% of infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, search-and-rescue teams were working through the rubble while residents complained that aid had been too slow in arriving.

BBC

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