Eight people were killed when Hurricane Irma ripped through the French Caribbean territories of Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin, French Interior Minister, Gerard Collomb, said on Thursday.

Another 23 people were injured, Collomb told radio broadcaster Franceinfo, as a picture emerged of devastation on the path of one of the Atlantic's strongest-ever storms.

"Authorities had previously reported six deaths and two people critically injured," reported Deutsch Presse-Agentur, dpa, saying that the Interior Ministry in Paris has set up a crisis centre in response.