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Typhoon Xangsane death toll tops 48

Empty containers lie on top of shanties and lean on bigger structures yesterday in Manila after they were blown over during Typhoon Xangsane yesterday. PHOTO: AP

The death toll from a powerful typhoon that cut across the northern Philippines rose yesterday to at least 48 with dozens of people missing in floods and landslides as residents mounted a massive cleanup, officials said.

The financial markets, schools and government offices in the capital, Manila, remained closed for a second day since Typhoon Xangsane slammed ashore late on Wednesday.

Most of the deaths occurred in Laguna Province, south of Manila, said Romeo Panisales, a provincial social welfare officer. At least 19 people were killed in landslides and flash floods in the town of Santa Rosa and another 15 in five other towns.

Missing

Another 29 people were missing in the same province.

The coast guard reported a yacht with at least six crew members was missing in Manila Bay while heading to the Manila Yacht Club from a nearby port. A crew member of another boat in Batangas Province south of Manila was reported missing when it sank during the typhoon.

Among dozens of missing were at least 30 people in General Trias Yown, about 40km south of Manila, where an irrigation dike collapsed as they were watching houses washed away by raging river waters, said Walter Martinez, a local village official.

Police officer Quintin Trinidad said only one body had been found.

The entire northern island of Luzon, including Manila, was left without power on Thursday but electricity was restored to 36 percent of consumers by yesterday morning, the state-run National Transmission Corp reported.

The typhoon was briefly downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved toward the South China Sea heading to Vietnam, but gained strength again yesterday, packing winds of 120kph and gusts of up to 150kph, the Philippine weather bureau reported.

Skirt hainan

Chinese state media said yesterday the typhoon was likely to skirt Hainan, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the island during the first few days of a weeklong national holiday.

In Manila and neighboring provinces, residents began the day by cleaning up toppled trees, broken branches, fallen sign posts and power pylons.

Philippine marines were helping out along EDSA Highway, the city's main thoroughfare.

The capital and two other provinces declared a state of calamity to enable them to draw emergency funds.

About 2,000 bus and ferry passengers were stranded in Luzon and more than 60,000 people were either affected or forced to leave their homes, the Office of Civil Defense reported.

Xangsane, the Laotian word for elephant, is the 10th typhoon this season, and the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years.
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