Philippines death toll rises to 64 after Typhoon Mangkhut causes flooding and landslides
A further 40 miners, who were staying inside a bunkhouse that was buried under a landslide, are also feared dead
Typhoon Mangkhut killed at least 64 people in the Philippines as it smashed homes and left behind torrents of floodwater, and is now slamming into China’s coast. Another 40 people, mostly gold miners, were feared buried in a landslide a day after the storm ploughed through the northern part of the Philippines.
In Itogon, Benguet province, Mayor Victorio Palangdan said at least 32 people died while 29 are missing, mostly due to landslides caused by torrential rains. He added that the miners, who were staying inside a bunkhouse that was buried under a landslide, are feared dead.
Presidential adviser Francisco Tolentino earlier said that four people were reported dead in Nueva Vizcaya province.
Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said in a statement that two rescuers who were reported on Saturday to have died in a landslide in the central Philippine province of Cordillera were subsequently accounted for.
The massive storm, considered this year’s strongest, left key agricultural areas on Luzon island underwater as its fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rains unleashed dozens of landslides.
Jerome Balinton, a spokesman for Save the Children who was on the ground in northeastern Luzon, said: “The further north we travelled the more extensive the damage, particularly in Cagayan province. House after house had been flattened or badly damaged, with roofs or walls missing. Large trees have been uprooted from the ground and power poles bent right over, leaving power lines strewn across the ground.
“In some areas where the eye of the storm hit, it seems as if nothing has been left undamaged.”