More than 100 dead in Philippines mudslides

Emergency workers, soldiers, police and volunteers were being mobilised to search for survivors and clear debris.

The Montagne Avenue is decorated with Christmas illuminations during the holiday season in Paris, France. The casualties, most of them caused late on Friday, were all on the main southern island of Mindanao, they said, adding three provinces were hardest hit.Disaster officials said many residents had ignored warnings to leave coastal areas and riverbanks. “Many people were swept to the sea as flood waters quickly rose due to the high tide,” Manuel Luis Ochotorena, a disaster agency official, said. Hundreds of kilometres to the east, army and emergency workers were checking reports an entire village was buried by mudslide in Tubod town in Lanao del Norte. Ryan Cabus, a local official, said power and communication lines to the area had been cut, complicating rescue efforts. The weather bureau said the storm had gathered strength over the Sulu Sea and was packing winds of up 80 kph (50 mph) and moving west at 20 kph. It was heading out over the sea by midday on Saturday and would have moved clear of the Philippines by Monday, it said.Emergency workers, soldiers, police and volunteers were being mobilised to search for survivors, clear debris, and restore power and communications. More than 100 deaths were reported in various places including 60 in Tubod, El Salvador and Munai towns in Lanao del Norte province. Sixty-four people were reported missing in floods and landslides, according to a tally of reports form officials and police. The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons every year, bringing death and destruction, usually to the poor.