Typhoon death toll in Philippines rises to nine

Typhoon death toll in Philippines rises to nine

MANILA - The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Goni rose to nine after five more people were buried by landslides in mountainous areas, officials said on Saturday.

Packing gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph), Goni was estimated to be 105 km east-northeast of Batanes, the northernmost province in the Philippines, and moving at 13 kph towards southern Japan.

Weather forecasters said Goni would be out of the region of the Philippines by Monday, improving conditions in the capital Manila, where some workplaces and schools had been closed because of rainfall. Storm alerts were lifted in some northern provinces.

"There was a new landslide early this morning, which buried some houses," Nestor Fongwan, governor of Benguet province, told radio stations. "We've pulled out four bodies."

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In Baguio City, capital of the Cordillera mountain region, the amount of rain overnight exceeded the average volume for the whole month, disaster officials said.

Alexander Pama, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said nearly 1,000 people had been displaced by landslides and floods in the north.

In some areas, shipping was suspended, flights grounded and roads closed by floods, landslides, toppled power lines and uprooted trees.

Soldiers have been clearing roads to speed up delivery of food, drinking water and other vital supplies, Pama said.

An average of 20 typhoons a year pass through the Philippines. The most deadly and destructive, Haiyan, killed more than 6,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in November 2013.

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