Philippines Hit by Deadly Floods and Landslides

KOMPAS.com - Flooding and multiple landslides in the southern Philippines have killed at least 31 people.

Naguib Sinarimbo, interior minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in the southern island of Mindanao, said a further 67,000 residents in Maguindanao province were affected by the overnight floods.

Many residents were caught by surprise by the rapidly rising waters brought on by tropical storm Nalgae.

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"The amount of rainwater that came down overnight was unusually (heavy) and flowed down mountainsides and swelled rivers,'' Sinarimbo said.

Footage posted on social media shows raging brown, muddy floodwaters trapping some residents on their roofs.

Tropical storm Nalgae is expected to bring more heavy rains

Rescuers retrieved 16 bodies from Datu Odin Sinsuat, 10 from Datu Blah Sinsuat, and five from Upi town.

Rescue operations were ongoing and officials expected the death toll to rise.

"Most of the victims died from flash floods, and then landslides that buried houses," Nasrullah Imam, head of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office said. "Some of the victims were trapped in their homes," he added.

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The weather improved slightly on Friday morning but the weather bureau expected tropical storm Nalgae to make landfall on the country's eastern coast on Saturday morning.

About 5,000 people in the path of the storm were evacuated.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippine archipelago each year.

Sources: DW, AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters