Many villages have been buried under mud flows. Baybay, in the central province of Leyte, was particularly touched.
Le Monde and AFP
The landslides and floods caused by the Megi tropical storm made at least 58 deaths in the Philippines, according to the latest official reports published Wednesday.
Most deaths – at least 47, according to local authorities – have occurred around the city of Baybay, in the central province of Leyte, where several villages have been buried under mud flows. A total of 27 people remain missing in this same sector.
Hanging overnight, the research took over Wednesday at dawn, the rescuers sometimes dig with bare hands in the mud.
Landslides near Baybay occurred “out of dangerous areas”, and many inhabitants were taken by surprise while they were in their homes, explained to the France-Presse agency ( AFP) Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency.
First major tropical storm this year
At least five people perished in Pilar, a village of about 400 people also located in the province of Leyte, according to the police. Most of the village houses were rushed into the sea by a gigantic landslide.
The storm also made three deaths in the province of Eastern Negros (Center) and three others in the southern island of Mindanao, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.
Megi, known in the Philippines under its local name of Agaton, is the first major tropical storm to strike this year, frequently affected by natural disasters.