TWO people were killed as tropical cyclone Eline battered the island of Madagascar, causing heavy damage to the capital Antananarivo and in two towns on the east coast, rescue services said on Friday. The victims died in a mudslide in Antananarivo, where trees were uprooted, roofs torn off and electricity and telephone lines cut when the cyclone hit the city overnight on Thursday, firemen said. Two towns on the east coast of this Indian Ocean island, Mahanoro and Vatomandry, suffered 80% damage, national radio reported. Eline hit the towns at around 6:00pm, taking residents by surprise. Eline struck the capital, in the central north of the island, around midnight. The lower areas of the town, recently hit by a cholera epidemic, are now in danger of flooding. Late on Friday, investigators were still trying to assess the extent of the damage.