Megi death toll rises to 76 in Philippines

Manila, Apr 14 (EFE).- At least 76 people have died and another 29 are missing in the Philippines due to the effects of tropical storm Megi, according to data released Thursday by authorities.

The most affected city was Baybay, in the eastern province of Leyte, where at least 64 people have died after a landslide buried part of the town.

The official death toll may rise as emergency teams continue digging.

A small initial landslide alerted residents, some of whom managed to escape, but then a much larger one that engulfed the “entire town” caught out others, including the rescue team, according to Baybay Mayor José Carlos Cari.

The National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management specified that another three people died in Mindanao and one in Western Visayas, and in total some 162,000 people have been evacuated to shelters.

Tropical storm Megi, called Agaton in the Philippines, entered the country’s east coast on Sunday in a northwesterly direction, causing floods and landslides in the Visayas and Mindadao island clusters.

In total, more than 920,000 people have been affected by the storm, which has caused more than 487 floods throughout the country.

Megi is the first major storm to hit the disaster-prone country in 2022, which records an average of 20 typhoons each year.

This storm, which hit this Catholic-majority country before the celebration of Holy Week, surprised the authorities, who had declared the minimum alert level before it made landfall.

In December, Typhoon Rai, the most powerful to hit the Philippines last year, left at least 409 dead; while Typhoon Haiyan, the largest to have made landfall, caused some 7,000 deaths in November 2013. EFE

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