UPDATED. Disaster agency officials reduce the death toll to 45 from 72 after checking reports from ground staff, including rescue workers searching for 18 missing persons. PaengPH
MANILA, Philippines – Manila and nearby towns braced on Saturday, October 29, for Severe Tropical Storm, which has killed 45 people, mostly because of landslides in southern provinces of the Philippines.
Residents in the capital’s coastal area were evacuated while classes across all levels were suspended, according to the mayor’s office. The tropical storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 130 kph, has made multiple landfall in the eastern Philippines on Saturday.
Airlines have canceled 116 domestic and international flights to and from the Philippines’ main gateway. Nearly 7,500 passengers, drivers, and cargo helpers and 107 vessels were stranded in ports, the coast guard said.