Death toll in Philippine typhoon tops 100

Manila_(dpa) _ The death toll in a powerful typhoon that wreaked havoc in the Philippines has topped 100 as the government on Sunday assured emergency relief for battered communities.

A total of 120 people were reported killed in the onslaught of Xangsane, the worst typhoon to hit metropolitan Manila in a decade, according to disaster relief agencies and local officials.

The bulk of the deaths, 84, occurred in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, an area collectively called Calabarzon.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said more casualty reports were coming in as electricty and communication services were restored in some of the affected areas.

"The death toll in the Calabarzon area alone might hit over 100 as reports from provincial disaster coordinating offices have just started to come in," he said.

More than one million people in 17 provinces were affected by the typhoon, which damaged more than 1.26 billion pesos (25.37 million dollars) worth of crops and properties, including 13,072 houses.

Clean-up of the destruction left behind by Xangsane continued over the weekend, with teams clearing roads littered with toppled trees, electric posts, billboards and other debris.

Power and communication services were also slowly restored in some of the affected areas.

But other provinces in the eastern region of Bicol were still totally in the dark, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Teams from the military, police and other government agencies were also deployed to help speed up the clean-up and rehabilitation efforts.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye assured affected areas of government assistance in the recovery efforts.

"All parties concerned are working round the clock in typhoon-battered areas to help affected communities return to normalcy," he said.

"The government's focus is to provide relief to the victims, to check prices of basic commodities and rehabilitate damaged farms where the impact on livelihood is the worst," he added.

The highest death toll was recorded in Quezon province, where the provincial disaster coordinating council reported 39 deaths mainly due to drowning from flashfloods.

In nearby Cavite province, the provincial governor said 21 people were killed due to landslides, drowning and other accidents.

Another 18 people were killed mostly in landslides in Laguna province, local officials said.

Other worst hit areas was the Bicol region, where 16 people were killed, and metro Manila, where at least nine deaths were reported, according to the NDCC.

The NDCC added that 11 more people were killed in various accidents in the other affected areas.

Typhoon Xangsane was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometres an hour when it hit the Philippines last Wednesday and Thursday.

The weather bureau warned another tropical depression was spotted near the Philippines, which could affect the country in three to four days.

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