MANILA - At least 20 people have died after days of torrential rains in parts of the southern Philippines, provincial disaster agencies said on Feb 5.

Thirteen people died in Davao de Oro province while two were missing, and seven people were killed in neighbouring Davao del Norte, disaster agency officials said.

A north-east monsoon and trough of a low pressure area brought rain in southern Mindanao region from Jan 28 to Feb 2, resulting in deadly floods and landslides, data from the national disaster agency showed.

More than 812,000 persons were affected, of which around 85,000 people took shelter in evacuation centres, it added.

In mid-January, 18 people died due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in southern Philippines.

Landslides and floods are frequent in the South-east Asian nation, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands that is hit by about 20 tropical storms annually. REUTERS