A tropical storm followed by heavy rainfall has killed at least 16 people in Madagascar, emergency services say.

Seventeen people remain missing after Tropical Storm Cheneso hit, according to the Office for Risk and Disaster Management.

More than 60,000 people have been displaced since the storm reached the island just over a week ago.

Some 47,000 people are affected, while 13,000 houses and some 100 classrooms are damaged, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations said

Madagascar, Mozambique and the wider southern Africa region have been hit by severe storms and cyclones in recent years.

Last year, several storms in the region killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands others.

AFP