Philippines: Death toll from flooding accidents rises to 14

Manila, September 3 (IANS): The death toll from floods and landslides caused by tropical storm Yagi in the Philippines has risen to 14, the government said on Tuesday.

According to Xinhua news agency, Edgar Posadas, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said 12 deaths had been reported on the island of Luzon and the central Philippines.

Two more deaths occurred in a province southwest of Manila, while four people are still missing in a province east of Manila.

The victims, including a pregnant woman and children, died from drowning, landslides, electrocution or other accidents as a result of the effects of the tropical storm.

Since the weekend, torrential rains triggered by Yagi and the southwest monsoon have caused severe flooding in the Philippine capital Manila and other parts of the archipelago. Landslides have swallowed houses and buried villages.

The Philippine weather agency said Yagi strengthened on Tuesday and was blowing westward at 25 km/h across the province of Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, with winds of 85 km/h and gusts of up to 105 km/h.

It said Yagi would exit the Philippines on Wednesday morning. It said Yagi is expected to strengthen over the course of the forecast period and could reach the category of a severe tropical storm in the next 12 hours and the category of a typhoon on Thursday.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons every year.