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MANILA - Typhoon Durian may have killed up to 400 people in the central Philippines after heavy rains and winds sent tonnes of mud and boulders the size of cars crashing onto villages, the head of the local Red Cross said today.
Durian, which packed winds of up to 225 kph, moved into the South China Sea after lashing the Philippines since early Thursday and was expected to weaken into a tropical storm before hitting Vietnam on Monday.
Communities close to Mount Mayon, an active volcano about 320km south of Manila, were buried after Durian dislodged mounds of debris from its slopes.
"There are a lot of conflicting reports but, looking at the trend, we could have about 300 to 400 people dead by tonight," Richard Gordon, a senator and head of the Philippine Red Cross, told local television.
A statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said initial statistics indicated some 25,000 people had been affected.
Thousands were left homeless and infrastructure damaged, including power lines and phone links knocked out, bridges washed away and roads buried by landslides.
"It's a wasteland," said Noel Rosal, a mayor in the central region of Bicol.
Named after a pungent and spiky Asian fruit, the typhoon was the fourth to hit the Philippines in three months. Forecasters expect one more before the end of the year.
In September, 213 people were killed when Typhoon Xangsane battered the north and centre of the country, leaving millions without electricity or running water for days.
Xangsane also killed dozens in Vietnam.
In a village close to Mayon, soldiers used their bare hands to dig bodies out of the sludge. A pregnant woman was pulled out alive and airlifted to hospital.
"The hands and legs of some of the dead were sticking out from the mud," said Colonel Robert Morales, the deputy brigade commander in Bicol.
Disaster agencies called for fresh water, medicine and body bags. Thousands of evacuees crammed into schools and churches, while some residents were marooned on roofs.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said farmers had suffered around 500 million pesos ($14.5 million) in losses after Durian swept through growing regions for coconuts, rice and hemp. Crop damage from previous typhoons cut third-quarter economic growth.
On the island of Marinduque, trees were uprooted, lamp posts wrenched out and roofs swept from most homes.
"It's the worst in our history. Almost all houses were damaged by the typhoon in the province," Congressman Edmund Reyes said on local radio.
Australia's Lafayette Mining Ltd halted operations at its copper and zinc mine in the central Philippines after the typhoon damaged staff housing and power lines but the company said it hoped to reopen in two weeks.
Durian skirted Manila, where offices and schools were closed for a national holiday.
Illegal logging and mining raises the risk of mudslides during the Philippine typhoon season. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died on the central island of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
- REUTERS
