Many of the dead were caught in landslides triggered by torrential rain from Tropical Storm Megi. The death toll from landslides and floods in the Philippines has risen to 58 as rescuers dug up more bodies with their bare hands in villages buried in rain-fuelled landslides.<\/p>\n
Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi \u2013 the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year \u2013 were in the central province of Leyte.<\/p>\n
At least 47 people were confirmed to have been killed and more than 100 injured after waves of mud smashed into some six villages around Baybay City over the weekend, local authorities said. Some 27 people remain missing. Army, police and other rescuers were struggling with mud and unstable heaps of earth and debris to find them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are saddened by this dreadful incident that caused an unfortunate loss of lives and destruction of properties,\u201d Army Brigade Commander Noel Vestuir, who was helping oversee the search and rescue, told The Associated Press news agency. Three people were also killed in the central province of Negros Oriental and three others on the main southern island of Mindanao, according to the national disaster agency.<\/p>\n
Search operations for survivors in Pilar village \u2013 also in Leyte \u2013 resumed at first light on Wednesday. Rescuers travelled by boat to the coastal community of approximately 400 people, a day after a landslide pushed most houses into the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have five casualties, one unidentified,\u201d James Mark Ruiz of Abuyog police told the AFP news agency. About 50 survivors have been rescued from the village, the Bureau of Fire Protection said on Facebook on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Raymark Lasco, a radio operator at the Abuyog disaster agency, said that \u201cmany people\u201d had died. \u201cI can\u2019t give you exact details \u2026 because our operation is ongoing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The military has joined the coast guard, police and fire protection teams in the search and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by bad weather. \u201cThe challenge is, it\u2019s continuing to rain and we cannot immediately clear the landslide areas,\u201d Vestuir said.<\/p>\n
Whipping up seas, Megi forced dozens of ports to suspend operations and stranded thousands of people at the start of Holy Week, one of the busiest travel periods of the year in the Philippines. Megi came four months after super typhoon Rai devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.<\/p>\n
Scientists have long warned that typhoons are strengthening more rapidly as the planet becomes warmer due to climate change. The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.<\/p>\n
Source: Agencies<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of the dead were caught in landslides triggered by torrential rain from Tropical Storm Megi. The death toll from landslides and floods in the Philippines has risen to 58 as rescuers dug up more bodies with their bare hands in villages buried in rain-fuelled landslides. Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21],"tags":[980,6108,1161],"class_list":["post-94662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world-news","tag-floods","tag-landslides","tag-philippines"],"yoast_head":"\n