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Death toll of latest typhoon in Philippines climbs to 14

2009-11-01 11:11 BJT

MANILA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen people were killed, mostly drowned, and four remain missing after typhoon Mirinae swept through the southern Luzon region on Saturday, the Philippine disasters relief agency reported Sunday.

A father and his children wade through a flooded street caused by flash floods brought about by Typhoon Mirinae in the town of Santa Cruz, Laguna province, south of Manila.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
A father and his children wade through a flooded street caused by flash floods
brought about by Typhoon Mirinae in the town of Santa Cruz, Laguna province,
south of Manila.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Eight of the fatalities died of drowning, three succumbed to hypothermia, two due to collapsed wall and one fell from the roof, said Glenn Rabonza, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

Mirinae, the forth storm to hit the Philippine archipelago in a month, slammed into the country's east coast Friday mid-night and barreled through the southern Luzon in a few hours before it entered the South China Sea. Typhoon uprooted trees, damaged houses, roads, bridges and causing brownouts in areas including the capital region.

Rabonza said a total 2,853 families or 13,456 persons were affected by Mirinae. More than 9,000 persons are housed in government-run temporary evacuation centers.

The typhoon also worsened the flooding in parts of the capital region that is still reeling from the devastation of two back-to-back storms earlier last month. Around 1000 people were killed and9 million were affected.

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