Powerful typhoon lashes Philippines, killing at least 3

TUGUEGARAO (PHILIPPINES): Typhoon Mangkhut

lashed the northern Philippines on Saturday, with its powerful winds and rain setting off landslides and destroying homes,

leaving at least three people dead and six missing, as the storm barrelled toward southern China.

The most powerful typhoon to hit the disaster-prone Philippines this year slammed ashore before dawn in Cagayan province on the northeastern tip of Luzon island, a breadbasket that is also a region of floodprone rice plains and mountain provinces with a history of deadly landslides.

China and the Philippines agreed to postpone a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that was to start Sunday due to the onslaught, which caused nearly 150 flights, a third of them international, to be canceled and halted sea travel.

At least three people died and six others were missing in the mountain city of Baguio after ferocious winds and rain destroyed several houses and set off landslides, which also blocked roads to the popular vacation destination, said the city’s mayor, Mauricio Domogan.

Authorities were verifying the drownings of three people, including two children who reportedly died as the typhoon approached.

They were also checking to see what happened to about 70 men who reportedly returned to their coastal village in Cagayan to check on their homes as the typhoon drew closer Friday, sparking concerns over possible storm surges. Mangkhut’s sustained winds weakened to 170 kilometres per hour with gusts of up to 260 kph after it sliced northwestward across Luzon then blew out to the South China Sea, aiming at southern China and Hong Kong, where residents braced for the worst.

With the weather easing, officials warned there was lingering danger.