Typhoon Cimaron leaves at least 16 people dead in Philippines

Manila_(dpa) _ Typhoon Cimaron blew out of the northern Philippines on Tuesday, leaving at least 16 people dead and thousands homeless, officials said.

Six of the fatalities drowned or were killed by fallen trees in Isabela province, 300 kilometres north of Manila, which was one of the worst-hit provinces.

Four people also drowned in Kasibu town in Nueva Vizcaya province, according to local officials.

Two people died in landslides in the provinces of Benguet and Kalinga, while a mother and her daughter drowned in nearby Aurora province, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.

A man in Aurora died after being hit by a fallen tree, the OCD added.

In La Union province, a woman died in a road mishap that also injured seven other people, police said.

More than 177,000 people were affected by Cimaron, which slammed the northern Philippines late Sunday.

It was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres and gusts of up to 230 kilometres an hour at its strongest.

The OCD said 2,126 people were still in evacuation centres after their homes were damaged or totally destroyed by floods, landslides or strong winds.

According to the weather bureau, Cimaron has continued to weakened as it headed towards the eastern coast of Vietnam. It was moving at 13 kilometres per hour.

It has weakened to maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres an hour and gusts of up to 150 kilometres per hour, the bureau said in its latest bulletin.

Prior to Cimaron's onslaught, a large portion of the Philippines including Manila was battered by typhoon Xangsane in late September, killing at least 219 people.

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