DAKAR: Fighting in Central African Republic may have claimed more lives than previously thought because many Muslim victims were never taken to state hospitals and families buried their dead at home because of security fears, according to aid workers.

Violence spiraled in the former French colony after the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted the government of President Francois Bozize in March 2013 and Seleka leader Michel Djotodia declared himself president of the majority Christian country.

Medical charity MSF said on Wednesday a survey of nearly 33,000 Central African refugees in neighboring Chad had shown 8 percent questioned had lost at least one member of their family.