Philippines typhoon kills at least 100 as it heads for Vietnam

Rescuers in the central Philippines counted at least 100 people dead and many more injured today, a day after one of the most powerful typhoons on record ripped through the region, wiping away buildings and levelling seaside homes with massive storm surges.

The central Philippine city of Tacloban was in ruins today, a day after being ravaged by one of the strongest typhoons on record, as horrified residents spoke of storm surges as high as trees and authorities said they were expecting a “very high number of fatalities.”

At least 138 people were confirmed dead in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which slammed into six central Philippine islands on Friday, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes. At least 118 of the deaths were on hardest-hit Leyte Island, where Tacloban is located, said national disaster agency spokesman Reynaldo Balido.