120 killed in Philippines flooding

The death toll from storm-triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines has risen to more than 120, with over 100 people missing.

Lawrence Cruz, mayor of Iligan, said 79 bodies were recovered today after more than 12 hours of continuous rain from Tropical Storm Washi swelled a river and sent muddy floodwaters cascading down to his city from nearby mountains.

He said about 150 people were missing after the storm dumped heavy rain as it swept through the Mindanao region.

Police and rescue officials in nearby Cagayan de Oro city said 40 bodies have been recovered in the city and at least three people drowned in Zamboanga del Norte province, west of the two cities.

The chief of the national disaster rescue agency, Benito Ramos, said the dead included at least nine people in a single village in Lanao del Norte province, with floodwaters surging in the middle of the night and quickly reaching rooftops, trapping many residents and causing them to drown.

“Massive flooding has been reported over the region, especially in Iligan city and Cagayan de Oro city,” Mr Ramos said, adding that tens of thousands of people sought shelter on high ground.

It comes after back-to-back typhoons in September left more than 100 people dead in the northern Philippines.

Mr Cruz said the coastguard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off Iligan for survivors or bodies that may have been swept into the sea by a swollen river.

Scores of residents escaped the flood by climbing on to the roofs of their homes.

Those missing included prominent radio broadcaster Enie Alsonado, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbours, Mr Cruz said.

Local politician Rufus Rodriguez said that about 20,000 residents of Cagayan de Oro had been affected and that evacuees were packed in temporary shelters.

Television footage showed muddy water rushing through the streets, sweeping away all sorts of debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.

Strong winds toppled trees on to the rain-saturated ground in Polanco township in Zamboanga del Norte province, where three people drowned, including an 80-year-old woman who had been trapped in her flooded home, said provincial disaster officer Dennis Tenorio.

Washi, the 19th storm to hit the Philippines this year, came ashore in eastern Mindanao and blanketed the region with thick rain clouds 250 miles in diameter.

It quickly cut across the region overnight and was over the Sulu Sea by mid-morning Saturday, packing maximum winds of 47mph and gusts of up to 56mph. It is expected to blow out of the country late on Sunday, forecaster Raymond Ordinario said.