Typhoon Ompong death toll rises to 74

Manila - The death toll from Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) has increased to 74, while 74 others were injured and 55 remained missing, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday, September 18.

The PNP-National Operations Center reported that as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, 60 of the 74 casualties were from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 10 from Cagayan Valley, two from Central Luzon, and one each from National Capital Region and Ilocos Region.

Of the missing people, 52 were from CAR, two from Ilocos, and one from NCR.

Most of the casualties were buried in a massive landslide that hit Barangay Ucab in Itogon, Benguet, at the height of Typhoon Ompong over the weekend. Hundreds of miners and their families were reportedly buried alive.

PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana Jr. said the police force will not stop until the last victim of the landslide will be accounted for.

“We are still hoping na sana makapag-recover pa tayo ng buhay, di pa natin alam but miracles can still happen nowadays,” he added.

Meantime, the PNP said 5,904 families or 20,562 individuals are still staying in 5,983 evacuation centers in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Western Visayas, CAR and NCR.

The PNP also recorded 6,851 damaged houses and other infrastructures. Around 2,524 are from CAR, 3,705 from Ilocos, 589 from Central Luzon, 26 from NCR, six from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), and one from Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and management Council (NDRRMC), meantime, a total of 218,492 families or 893,844 persons were affected from 3,237 typhoon-hit barangays.