Typhoon kills at least 69 in Philippines and China
Dozens of people who were in a chapel that was buried in a landslide set off by Typhoon Mangkhut are unlikely to be found alive, a Philippine mayor said Monday, as rescuers continued to dig through mud and debris.
At least 65 people have been killed in the typhoon since it struck the Philippines on Saturday, most of them in landslides in Benguet province in the north of the country. The storm killed another four people in China, where it weakened to a tropical storm as it churned inland Monday.
About 40 to 50 people were sheltering in a former miners’ bunkhouse that had been turned into a chapel in Itogon, a mining town in Benguet province, when it was crushed by debris. Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said at a news conference that there’s a “99 percent (chance) that they really are all dead.”
Palangdan said rescuers have dug out 11 bodies. Dozens of residents sought shelter in the chapel during the storm despite warnings it was dangerous.
“They laughed at our policemen. They insisted,” he said. “They were resisting when our police tried to pull them away. What can we do?”
Hundreds of rescuers, including police and soldiers, scrambled to search for the missing as grief-stricken relatives waited nearby, many of them quietly praying.
“We will not stop until we recover all the bodies,” Palangdan said.
Most of those buried in Itogon are thought to be poor miners and their families. In order to prevent such tragedies in the future, Environmental Secretary Roy Cimatu said the government will deploy soldiers and police to stop illegal mining in six mountainous northern provinces, including Benguet.
Mangkhut on Monday was still lashing southern China’s coast and the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan. Rain and strong winds were likely to continue through Tuesday.