Four children were among at least nine people killed in heavy rain and flooding caused by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines, disaster relief officials said Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Sanba slammed into the east coast of southern Mindanao island Tuesday morning, churning winds of 55 kph (34 mph) and gusts of up to 75 kph (47 mph), the state weather bureau said.
Nine people had died, including three in a landslide in rain-soaked mountainous areas of Carrascal, a town in Surigao del Sur province, said Mita Chuchi Lim, regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Sixty-four homes were destroyed and thousands of families across the southern region were displaced, she said.
“Relief operations went into high gear at different evacuation centers spread all over the region,” Lim said.
The landslide in Carrascal buried a home, killing a mother and her two children, aged 4 and 6, the town’s police chief, Sen. Inspector James Alindugao, said.
“There are areas flooded right now and our rescue mission is ongoing,” he said.
Full story: BenarNews
Jeoffrey Maitem and Froilan Gallardo
Cotabato and Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
Copyright ©2018, BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews.
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