MANILA, July 16 (AFP): The first typhoon of the Philippines' brutal rainy season shut down the nation's capital on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people across the country and cutting power for millions.
Ferocious winds from Typhoon Rammasun tore roofs off houses, overturned cars and ripped down electricity lines in the megacity of Manila, as well as remote fishing villages hundreds of kilometres away.
"I thought I was going to die. I went out to look for gasoline in case we needed to evacuate, but it was a mistake," said tricycle driver Pedro Rojas, 35, as he nursed a cut head while sheltering at a town hall on the outskirts of Manila.
"My tricycle rolled over twice after I slammed into sheets of rain. It was like hitting a wall... huge tin roofings were flying everywhere."
Falling trees, poles and walls killed at least 13 people across the northern parts of the Philippines that Rammasun swept over with wind gusts approaching 200 kilometres (120 miles) an hour, authorities said.
The national disaster management council reported seven fatalities, while local authorities confirmed the six others to AFP.
One of those was a rescue worker who died in the capital when a government building collapsed on him, while falling trees killed two elderly people in rural areas of a province neighbouring Manila.
Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital, kills 13
FE Team | Published: July 17, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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