The death toll from a typhoon that devastated mountainous and coastal towns in the southern Philippines with ferocious winds and flash floods this month has risen to more than 1,000.

Ireland is to provide aid worth €125,000 to help families affected by Typhoon Bopha, the Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello confirmed today.

The number of people missing after a typhoon devastated the Philippines jumped to nearly 900 after families and businesses reported losing contact with more than 300 fishermen at sea.

Rescuers are digging through mud and debris to retrieve more bodies strewn across a farming valley in the southern Philippines by a powerful typhoon, as the death toll from the storm passed 500.

A powerful typhoon that swept away emergency shelters, a military camp and possibly entire families in the southern Philippines has killed around 350 people with nearly 400 missing.