'Basyang' death toll rises to 68

MANILA, Philippines – Search teams retrieved three more bodies from the sea yesterday, raising the death toll from typhoon “Basyang” to 68 as bad weather hampered search and retrieval operations.

“Three more bodies were recovered from a sunken fishing vessel,” Benito Ramos, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, told radio dzBB. “The death toll is now 68.”

He said rescuers, including volunteers and troops, continued to scour coastal areas in the southeastern seaboard yesterday, where the majority of the 84 still missing were reported.

“We are still hoping that they are still alive,” Ramos said.

The NDCC reported that 30 other victims were injured while the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture has reached P188 million.

The two latest fatalities were identified as Romualdo Ladimo, 47, and Angelo Parga, 30 both from Atimonan, Quezon, who were among the passengers of the fishing boats Godswill 1, Godswill 2 and Joan which capsized in Polilio, Quezon due to bad weather.

An unidentified body was also found by a rescue team between the Mauban and Atimonan shoreline.

Ramos said rescue teams composed of soldiers and civilian volunteers are continuously mounting rescue operations in the coastal areas of provinces hit by the storm.

The NDCC said Basyang has affected a total of 46,655 families or 231,660 people in the regions of Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Bicol and Metro Manila. A total of 522 families or 2,671 people are still inside 17 evacuation centers put up by the government.

The storm also destroyed 3,266 houses while 24,504 others were partially damaged.

Ramos said the total amount of assistance provided by state agencies, local governments, and non-government organizations has reached P1.66 million.

However, he said fresh rains brought on by a new weather disturbance east of Luzon were hampering search and rescue operations.

State weather forecasters however said it was unlikely to develop into a full-blown storm.

Basyang slammed into the country on Tuesday, directly hitting Metro Manila as it cut westward into the South China Sea with a ferocity that caught weather forecasters by surprise.

It caused massive power outages across Luzon, toppled power lines, uprooted trees and destroyed thousands of homes.

The storm brushed past the southeastern Chinese island of Hainan and barreled its way into Vietnam on Saturday.

It killed at least two people in China and wrecked several Vietnamese ships off the South China Sea, officials there said.