Published : Dec. 20, 2011 - 11:54
MANILA, Dec 20, 2011 (AFP) - The toll of dead and missing from a cyclone that swept the southern Philippines has exceeded 1,000, a government agency said Tuesday as cities prepared mass burials for the victims.
Police officers and volunteers search for flood victims Monday, Dec. 19, 2011, four days after a flash flood hit Iligan city in southern Philippines. With funeral parlors overwhelmed, authorities in a flood-stricken southern Philippine city organized the first mass burial of unidentified victims who were swept to their deaths in one of the worst calamities to strike the region in decades. (AP-Yonhap News)
The government disaster monitoring council said in its latest update that tropical storm Washi had left 957 dead and 49 missing after lashing the southern island of Mindanao and surrounding areas over the weekend.
The day before, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council had listed 662 dead and 82 missing while the Philippine Red Cross gave a tally of 713 dead and 563 missing.
The southern port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were the worst affected with 579 and 279 fatalities respectively, the disaster management council said in a statement.
Disaster council chief Benito Ramos had told AFP that the death toll was rising as the bodies of people who were washed out to sea were floating to the surface.
"They were underwater for the first three days but now, in their state of decomposition, they are bloated and floating to the surface," Ramos told AFP.
Storm Washi brought heavy rains that spawned overflowing rivers, flash floods and landslides that struck coastal slum areas in the dead of night, taking residents by surprise.
The huge numbers of dead have overwhelmed funeral parlours in the region with dead bodies lying everywhere.
Both Cagayan de Oro and Iligan authorities are preparing mass burials of unidentified bodies to avoid health concerns and the overpowering stench.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino is due to visit both cities on Tuesday to survey the damage and check on relief efforts.
필리핀 열대폭풍우 희생자 1천명 넘어
필리핀 남부를 강타한 열대성 폭풍우로 인한 희생자수가 1천명을 넘어섰다.
필리핀 방재 당국은 지난 16일 밤 민다나오섬 일대에 상륙한 사이클론 '와시'로 인해 지금까지 957명이 숨지고 49명이 실종됐다고 20일 밝혔다.
'사망 662명, 실종 82명'이라는 인명피해 집계 발표 하루 만에 사망자수가 300명이나 뛰었다.
필리핀 적십자사는 전날 사망자와 실종자 수가 각각 713명과 563명이라고 전했다.
폭풍우는 소멸됐지만 익사한 시신이 시간이 지나 수면으로 떠오르면서 사망자수 가 크게 늘어난 것이라고 당국은 설명했다.
방재 당국 집계에 따르면 인명피해가 극심한 곳은 카가얀데오로시(市)와 일리간 시(市)로, 각각 579명과 279명이 숨졌다.
카가얀데오로시와 일리간시는 질병 확산을 예방하기 위해 신원이 확인되지 않은 시신을 집단 매장할 방침이다.
이번 폭풍우는 심야에 많은 비를 뿌려 잠든 주민들이 미처 대피하지 못해 큰 피 해가 발생했다.