World | Philippines
Tropical storm Halong kills 24 as it heads towards Japan
Tropical storm Halong left 24 dead, and injured 10 others, mostly in devastated northern Luzon, where provinces remained without power and communication lines.
- By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
- Published: 09:17 May 19, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- A Filipino woman crosses a makeshift bridge with her baby in a flooded shanty town in Bacoor in Cavite province.
Manila: Tropical storm Halong left 24 dead, and injured 10 others, mostly in devastated northern Luzon, where provinces remained without power and communication lines. The storm slipped to Okinawa Japan with sustained winds of 95km/h near the centre and gusts of up to 120km/h yesterday, Philippine provincial and national disaster offices said.
Wrath
The Provincial Disaster Coordination Councils (PDCCs) in hard hit areas such as Pangasinan, the Ilocos region and the Cordilleras said that 24 people were killed by electrocution, drowning, flying galvanised iron sheets, fallen trees, and landslide debris.
Halong's wrath was extensive. One was killed in central Luzon, three in Western Visayas, one in Antique, two in Negros Occidental, all in central Philippines, which is far from northern Luzon.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said that only 13 were killed as of end of yesterday. Names of missing people whose bodies were not found were not listed among the dead, NDCC explained.
At the height of the storm, three inmates escaped from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) detention centre in Dagupan City in central Luzon on Sunday, the Star said, adding that detainees started riots while others dug holes in the walls of their cell. Only one prisoner was recaptured.
- With inputs by Rafael Juan, Correspondent
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