The death toll from flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains due to a tropical depression in the eastern Philippines has jumped to at least 68, officials have said, warning that the number of fatalities will climb even higher.
Fifty-seven of the victims were reported in the eastern region of Bicol, located south of the main island of Luzon, civil defence officials said on Monday.
Eleven others died in the nearby region of Eastern Visayas.
Twelve people were also injured in various accidents in the two regions most affected by the rains even days before the tropical depression – known locally as Usman – made landfall in Eastern Samar province on Saturday.
“I am afraid this (death toll) will still go up because there are a lot of areas we still have to clear,” said Claudio Yucot, Bicol civil defence director.
More than 22,000 people were displaced by the bad weather, which also knocked out electricity in many of the affected areas, regional civil defence officials said.
Search and rescue operations were ongoing for the missing, while emergency teams were also clearing some roads and bridges made impassable by landslides and floods.