598 dead or missing after Philippines typhoon
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
MANILA, June 23 (AFP): Some 598 people are dead or missing after Typhoon Fengshen roared through the Philippines, the Red Cross and civil defence said Monday, dramatically raising the number unaccounted for.
Landslides, severe flooding and the loss of dozens of fishing boats had left at least 224 dead and 374 missing, they said, mostly in central areas which bore the brunt of the storm.
The figures, up from just six confirmed missing on Sunday while the death toll has been slightly lowered, do not include passengers and crew from a ferry which sank carrying 747 people. So far, only 32 survivors have been found.
More than 200 people were still missing in the central island of Negros, while 63,000 people are still in evacuation centers after flash floods and landslides forced them to flee their homes, the civil defence agency said.
Flooding had not yet receded in many parts of Bulacan province, just outside the capital of Manila, it added.
Power was fully restored in Manila but had not yet returned in some areas outside the capital where lines had been toppled.
Typhoon Fengshen slammed into the central Philippines late Saturday before changing course and moving north across much of the archipelago.
It left through the northwestern side of the main island of Luzon before dawn Monday, moving northwest at 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) per hour towards southern China, the government weather station said.
As of 10:00 am (0200 GMT) Monday, the typhoon was charted 300 kilometres northwest of the country, packing maximum winds of 110 kilometres near the center.
Meanwhile: Philippine rescue teams battled furious seas and high winds Monday in a desperate hunt for more survivors of a ferry that sank in a typhoon with 862 people aboard.
Only the tip of the bow of the Princess of the Stars remained above water after it tilted and quickly capsized Saturday, and navy frogmen have found no sign of life aboard the doomed vessel just off the central island of Sibuyan.
A local radio station said 28 more people had turned up alive when their lifeboat reached a coastal village, raising the number of survivors so far to 32, and there were hopes more would be found on the many tiny islands nearby."We have not lost hope that there might be more survivors," said coast guard chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo.
However, several bodies have also washed up on shore along with children's shoes, heightening fears of a high death toll. A coast guard crew was among those slowly combing the waters for victims of the disaster.
"We have slowed down to scout for floating bodies," the boat's master Lieutenant-Commander Inocencio Rosario told reporters on board. "After three days they tend to float," he added.
The search came as the ferry company revised up the number of passengers and crew on board from 747 to 862. Anxious relatives waited at the Manila offices of the company, Sulpicio Lines, waiting for news -- and answers.
It was the company's fourth disaster at sea in the past two decades, and the transportation department slapped an immediate ban on further sailings. "Definitely, Sulpicio Lines is responsible here," said Transport Undersecretary Elena Bautista.
The government also set up a taskforce to investigate the cause of the accident, while anti-corruption campaigners said they would launch a class action against the company, claiming it should lose its operating licence.
Landslides, severe flooding and the loss of dozens of fishing boats had left at least 224 dead and 374 missing, they said, mostly in central areas which bore the brunt of the storm.
The figures, up from just six confirmed missing on Sunday while the death toll has been slightly lowered, do not include passengers and crew from a ferry which sank carrying 747 people. So far, only 32 survivors have been found.
More than 200 people were still missing in the central island of Negros, while 63,000 people are still in evacuation centers after flash floods and landslides forced them to flee their homes, the civil defence agency said.
Flooding had not yet receded in many parts of Bulacan province, just outside the capital of Manila, it added.
Power was fully restored in Manila but had not yet returned in some areas outside the capital where lines had been toppled.
Typhoon Fengshen slammed into the central Philippines late Saturday before changing course and moving north across much of the archipelago.
It left through the northwestern side of the main island of Luzon before dawn Monday, moving northwest at 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) per hour towards southern China, the government weather station said.
As of 10:00 am (0200 GMT) Monday, the typhoon was charted 300 kilometres northwest of the country, packing maximum winds of 110 kilometres near the center.
Meanwhile: Philippine rescue teams battled furious seas and high winds Monday in a desperate hunt for more survivors of a ferry that sank in a typhoon with 862 people aboard.
Only the tip of the bow of the Princess of the Stars remained above water after it tilted and quickly capsized Saturday, and navy frogmen have found no sign of life aboard the doomed vessel just off the central island of Sibuyan.
A local radio station said 28 more people had turned up alive when their lifeboat reached a coastal village, raising the number of survivors so far to 32, and there were hopes more would be found on the many tiny islands nearby."We have not lost hope that there might be more survivors," said coast guard chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo.
However, several bodies have also washed up on shore along with children's shoes, heightening fears of a high death toll. A coast guard crew was among those slowly combing the waters for victims of the disaster.
"We have slowed down to scout for floating bodies," the boat's master Lieutenant-Commander Inocencio Rosario told reporters on board. "After three days they tend to float," he added.
The search came as the ferry company revised up the number of passengers and crew on board from 747 to 862. Anxious relatives waited at the Manila offices of the company, Sulpicio Lines, waiting for news -- and answers.
It was the company's fourth disaster at sea in the past two decades, and the transportation department slapped an immediate ban on further sailings. "Definitely, Sulpicio Lines is responsible here," said Transport Undersecretary Elena Bautista.
The government also set up a taskforce to investigate the cause of the accident, while anti-corruption campaigners said they would launch a class action against the company, claiming it should lose its operating licence.