Typhoon Doksuri deaths in Philippines rise to 13, 20 missing

MANILA - The death toll from heavy rains, floods, and landslides triggered by typhoon Doksuri has climbed to 13, and 20 more are missing, the Philippines' national disaster agency said on Friday, reported Xinhua.

Nine died in a landslide in the Cordillera Administrative Region, one in the Ilocos region in the northern Philippines, two in the central Philippines and one in a province near Manila, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

Nine others are missing in the Cordillera Administrative Region and 11 in Cagayan Valley, a region in the northern Philippines, the agency added.

Typhoon Doksuri has affected more than 500,000 people across the Southeast Asian country. Over 29,000 displaced people are still in 479 temporary shelters.

Doksuri, the fifth cyclone to batter the Philippines this year, has dumped rains for days, triggering flash floods and landslides. Many areas on the main Luzon island are still inundated though Doksuri exited the Philippines on Thursday.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the search continues for the four members of the Coast Guard who went missing on Wednesday while on their way to rescue seven crew of a boat drifting in the waters off Cagayan province.

On Friday, the state weather bureau warned that a tropical depression outside the Philippines has intensified into a tropical storm. As of Friday morning, the bureau spotted the incoming storm some 1,300 km east of Eastern Visayas, a region in the central Philippines.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries globally, mainly due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Pacific typhoon belt. On average, the archipelago country experiences 20 typhoons yearly, some intense and destructive. - BERNAMA