At least 9 dead due to tropical storm in the Philippines

Bangkok, Oct 12 (EFE).- At least nine people have died in the Philippines as a result of a heavy tropical storm passing through the northern part of the archipelago, the country’s disaster management agency said Tuesday.

Those killed were either trapped by landslides or swept away by strong currents, according to the Inquirer newspaper.

Emergency teams are trying to locate some 11 missing people.

Tropical storm Kompasu – called Maring in the Philippines – crossed the northern part of Luzon Island overnight and is expected to leave the Philippines towards northern Vietnam on Wednesday.

More than 1,500 people have been displaced from their homes, while 38 roads have been damaged, among other things, the authorities reported.

An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year, where the most destructive one known till date was Haiyan, which hit the islands of Samar and Leyte in November 2013, killing some 7,000 people and leaving 200,000 families homeless.

The Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change due to natural disasters.

It also sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an area that accounts for about 90 percent of the planet’s seismic and volcanic activity. EFE

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