.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
520 killed in Phillippines torrential rain
Death toll in southern Phillippines rises with thousands feared missing in wake of typhoon and flooding, as undertaker reports running out of child coffins.
Death toll due to Phillippines torrential rain has risen to 520, as frantic search goes on for the thousands missing
Al Jazeera reports the Philippines is stepping up flood relief efforts, as thousands feared missing in the torrential rains, which have already claimed the lives of 520 people.
The agency reports an unknown number of persons are still missing after a typhoon struck the cities of Iligan and Cagayan De Oro. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said rescue and relief efforts are being hampered by power outages and destroyed bridges.
From Cagayan de Oro, AFP reports an undertaker has run out of children's coffins.
"We are swamped. I only have five embalmers. It takes an average of four hours for each body but we have 200-plus bodies," undertaker Dexter Lacson tells AFP.
The agency said that 30 hours after the floods hit, the undertaker's stocks of low and small-size coffins have gone entirely due to the sheer number of child victims.
The Philippines social welfare department said up to 100,000 people were displaced. The national disaster agency said it could not estimate crop and property damage.
