Typhoon death toll in Philippines rises to 68

Tail end of Typhoon Conson hits Vietnam as death toll rises after typhoon smashes the Philippines

Last updated: September 15, 2018 | 19:45

2 MIN READ

EPA

Hanoi: More bodies were found in the Philippines while eight people were missing in Vietnam on Sunday as the tail end of Typhoon Conson blew ashore after battering the Philippines and China.

The storm made landfall on Vietnam's northern coast on Saturday night. Six fishermen remained missing after their boat sank as they sought shelter at the Paracel islands off Vietnam's central coast, said disaster official Pham Thi Kim Tuyen in central Quang Ngai province.

Tuyen said naval ships and fishing boats were searching for those missing.

Before making its way to Vietnam as a tropical storm, the typhoon slammed the Philippines and China last week.

The bodies of three missing Filipino fishermen were recovered, raising the country's death toll to 68 with 84 missing, the Philippines' National Disaster Coordinating Council reported on Sunday. Conson then grazed China, killing two there.

In Vietnam's northern province of Quang Ninh, a man was reported missing after his small boat sank in the picturesque tourist attraction of Ha Long Bay, said disaster official Nguyen Tri Thai. More than 100 vessels were ordered to anchor before the storm struck.

A female Vietnamese tourist was missing after she was swept away by high waves while swimming, said another disaster official, Le Duy Thanh of Thanh Hoa province.

Provincial authorities called off plans to evacuate 137,000 people because the weakened storm was not as severe as expected, said Thanh.

The national floods and storms control department said Sunday nearly 20,000 people had been evacuated from four coastal provinces. Some 300 homes were damaged and 27 boats destroyed.

Meteorologists said Conson was now a tropical depression and will fade away later on Sunday.

Residents sit next to their belongings amid destroyed houses in the village of Arenda, Taytay town, Rizalprovince, east of Manila.

Workers place a makeshift bridge on one of the beams of a collapsed crane brought by strong winds from Typhoon Conson at the South Luzon Expressway in suburban Manila.

Filipinos walk on a makeshift bridge on top of a collapsed crane brought by strong winds from Typhoon Conson at the South Luzon Expressway in Manila, Philippines.

Workers try to clear a fallen tree and a concrete electric post that block a major road in Manila, Philippines.

Residents push a stalled passenger jeepney hours after typhoon Conson lashed through Manila and other provinces in the Philippines.

Parents pick up their children wearing protective rain gear after elementary school classes in the Philippine capital Manila are called off due to Typhoon Conson.

Residents fix their shanties along a coastal road after typhoon Conson hit the area, at Las Pinas, south of Manila. The Philippines' first typhoon of the year barreled toward the country's east coast Tuesday, prompting flight and ferry cancellations, school closures and warnings of floods and landslides.

A man rides his bicycle on a flooded street caused by typhoon Conson in Las Pinas, south of Manila.

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