Today's Edition
Manila (dpa)
The death toll from floods, landslides and other accidents caused by Typhoon Gaemi in the Philippines has risen to 33, police said on Friday.
The victims include 11 people who died from drowning or electrocution in the capital Manila, which was struck by one of the worst floods in more than a decade.
In some areas, flood waters reached up to rooftops, forcing residents to evacuate and submerging vehicles.
Main roads were impassable at the height of the flooding on Wednesday, and almost half a million residents in metro Manila were without electricity.
Ten people died in four provinces north of the capital, including one crew member of an oil tanker that sank in Manila Bay off Limay town in Bataan province after being battered by huge waves.
The sinking of the oil tanker has triggered an oil spill, which the coastguard has been working to contain to avoid a major environmental crisis.
Police also recorded 12 fatalities in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal, mostly due to drowning and landslides.
Gaemi worsened monsoon rains which had been battering the Philippines since early July, causing floods and landslides in south-eastern provinces.
At least eight people were killed in weather-related accidents before Gaemi hit, the national disaster agency said.
More than 1.3 million people have been affected by the bad weather since July 11, with over 211,000 displaced from their homes, the agency said.
