Maputo — At least five people have died of hunger in the village of Chitete, in the western Mozambican province of Tete, according to a communique from the provincial government cited by Saturday's issue of the Beira daily paper "Diario de Mocambique".

Chitete is in Magoe district, near the border with Zimbabwe.

A team has been set up with officials from the Mozambican relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Lutheran Federation, in order to assess the food shortages in Magoe, and the neighbouring district of Zumbo.

Within a few days the Tete provincial health directorate will also send a team to these two districts to assess the nutritional status of the population.

Over 10,000 people are said to be at risk in the Zumbo district headquarters. But some food is already available there: the communique said 112 tonnes of various foodstuffs are stored in Zumbo.

Because of the southern African drought, last year's harvest was poor in much of Tete. and the current estimate is that over 175,000 people in the province (in the districts of Magoe, Zumbo, Cahora Bassa, Changara, Moatize, Chiuta and Mutarara) are at risk of hunger.