BREAKING NEWS
60 dead, many missing in Philippines typhoon
Manila (dpa) - At least 60 people were killed and 60 others were missing in the aftermath of a powerful typhoon that ravaged a large portion of the Philippines, officials said Friday.
Quezon province in the eastern Philippines sustained the most fatalities with 26 dead, including 13 who drowned after they were swept away by floodwaters in San Francisco town at the height of Typhoon Xangsane on Thursday....
...."We are still awaiting reports from other hard-hit areas," said Anthony Golez, deputy director of the Office of Civil Defence. "The flow of information is slow because of power outages, and communication lines were also cut off."
At least 1,200 houses were destroyed and more than 60,000 people displaced during the onslaught of Xangsane, which packed sustained winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour at its peak. ....
......A large portion of Manila remained without electricity Friday, and some hotels were reportedly asking their guests to move out as their generators began to overheat. Communication also remained a problem as Xangsane also downed several telephone networks. .....
.... more fatalities were reported in metropolitan Manila, the northern provinces of Bulacan and Bataan, the eastern region of Bicol, and the central provinces of Iloilo, Antique and Leyte...........
Some roads were still closed to traffic, blocked by toppled trees, electric posts and steel frames of billboards. ..............
