10 dead and two missing as Ramon starts to exit

Manila: A total of 10 people were killed yesterday and two went missing when tropical depression Ramon hit central Philippines and moved westward, following days of remaining stationary on the Pacific Ocean, the country's eastern seaboard, since Tuesday, a senior official said.

A nine-year-old Francis Rodeo was drowned when strong waves caught him while he was walking on the shore in Sugod village, Romblon Province in cental Philippines.

His classmates watched while he vanished into the sea, said Undersecretary Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Casualties

Daryll Galles, 20, was buried by a landslide while inside a mining pit in Butuan, Ramos said, adding that two others, Bienvenido Canete, 54, was electrocuted in Cebu and Wilfredo Sabroso, 30, fell from a collapsed footbridge, also in Cebu.

Earlier, four schoolchildren, four of them relatives, with ages 7 and 15, was drowned in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo province, when Ramon made a landfall on Monday.

About 23,755 persons from 10 provinces in central and southern Philippines were affected by the storm, Ramos said.

He said 18,156 people were isolated and given assistance inside and outside of evacuation centres. About 9,856 passengers were stranded in air and seaports in affected areas.

The education department suspended classes at the kindergarten level in central and southern Philippines yesterday.