Philippines flood toll nears 1,000

The Philippines government shipped more than 400 coffins today to two flood-stricken cities in the south where the death toll neared 1,000 as President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity and relief agencies rushed to help.

The latest count listed 957 dead and 49 missing and is set to climb further as additional bodies are recovered from the sea and mud in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.