Landslides and flooding have killed at least 31 people as heavy rain from the approaching Tropical Storm Nalgae lashed the southern Philippines, reports Aljazeera.
The matter was confirmed on Friday by a local disaster official who also said that nine people were remaining missing in the incidence.
Torrential rainstorms unleashed flash flooding overnight that carried uprooted trees, rocks and mud into rural communities around Cotabato, a city of 300,000 people situated on Mindanao Island.
Many residents were surprised by the rapidly rising floodwaters, Naguib Sinarimbo, civil defence chief for the regional government, said on Friday.
“The amount of rainwater that came down overnight was unusually (heavy) and flowed down mountainsides and swelled rivers,” he said, explaining that most of the victims were swept away by floodwaters and drowned, or were hit by debris-laden mudslides.
Rescuers retrieved 16 bodies from the flood-hit town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, he told reporters.
Rescuers in rubber boats were searching flooded areas around Cotabato City and emergency teams, including military units, were also checking other areas where flooding and landslides had been reported.
The army has deployed trucks to collect stranded residents in Cotabato and eight nearby towns, provincial civil defense chief Nasrullah Imam said.
The state weather office in Manila said the rain storms were related to Tropical Storm Nalgae, which is headed towards the northern Philippines, and the civil defense office said nearly 5,000 people have been evacuated from flood and landslide-prone areas ahead of Nalgae’s expected landfall on Saturday or Sunday.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
