Dozens buried in Philippine landslide as China counts cost of Typhoon Mangkhut
Itogon, Philippines - Philippine rescuers on Monday searched desperately for dozens feared buried under a landslide unleashed by Typhoon Mangkhut, which also left a trail of destruction in Hong Kong and saw millions evacuated in southern China.
The confirmed death toll across the northern Philippines, where the main island of Luzon was mauled by fierce winds and rain, reached 65 and was expected to rise further given the number of missing.
Four more were killed in China's southern province of Guangdong.
Searchers used shovels and bare hands to dig through mounds of rocky soil in the northern Philippine mountain town of Itogon, where 11 bodies were pulled from the rubble and dozens more may still be trapped after a landslide buried an emergency shelter.
More than 155,000 people remain in evacuation centres in the Philippines two days after Mangkhut - the world's most powerful storm this year - struck, said national police spokesman Benigno Durana.
Hong Kong began a massive clean-up on Monday after the typhoon raked the city, shredding trees and bringing damaging floods in a trail of destruction.
The government of the highrise city described the damage as ‘severe and extensive’ with more than 300 people injured.
The storm made landfall in mainland China late on Sunday, killing four in Guangdong including three hit by falling trees.
Authorities there said they had evacuated more than 3mn people and ordered tens of thousands of fishing boats back to port before the arrival of what Chinese media dubbed the ‘King of Storms’.
In the neighbouring gambling enclave of Macau, all 42 casinos shut down for the first time in its history as the storm approached.