DODMA Director Responsible for Recovery and Resilience Peter Lackson Chimangeni told Zodiak of the 190 deaths, 158 are from Blantyre alone.

Chimangeni says over 584 have been injured, 37 people are missing while over 4000 people have been displaced.

Meanwhile, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers and some civilians have been deployed in some Southern Region districts to help in search and rescue of victims of the cyclone.

Meanwhile, there are reports that some three rescuers from the MDF are missing after their boat was swept away by running waters in Mulanje after its engine failed to start.

Commissioner for disaster preparedness Charles Kalemba described the incident as unfortune.

The boat had six people, and three managed to swim out of the water, according to Kalemba.

In another development, the Director of the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services, Lucy Mtilatila, said Cyclone Freddy had weakened in Malawi.

Earlier, Finance minister Sosten Gwengwe said the government had reached out to experts for assessment of the impact of the tropical cyclone to help in formulating medium to long term response measures.

The finance minister said this during a ministerial visit to affected areas in Machinjiri, Blantyre.