Tropical storm kills family of five in Philippines
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The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking areas where millions live in poverty.
PHOTO: AFP
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MANILA – Tropical Storm Fengshen headed out to sea on Oct 19 after killing a family of five on the Philippines’ main island Luzon, officials and state weather forecasters said.
The family, including two children aged two and 11, were crushed to death in their sleep when a giant palm tree fell on their house near Pitogo, about 153km south-east of capital Manila.
“The entire family was asleep in a house made of light materials,” Governor Angelina Tan of Quezon province told Manila radio station DZMM, adding that a sixth member of the family survived.
Pitogo police official Sonny Ombajino confirmed the deaths, saying they occurred as the storm raked across the south of Luzon overnight.
At least 47,000 people have headed to government-designated temporary shelters across south-east Luzon since Oct 18, local disaster officials said, as the weather service warned of possible coastal flooding and landslides.
Rain continued to batter the island as Fengshen made its way towards the South China Sea on Oct 19.
It was expected to track north-west before eventually turning towards Vietnam with gusts of up to 90kmh, according to the weather service.
The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking areas where millions of people live in poverty.
Typhoon Bualoi killed 37 people and forced 400,000 to flee their homes in the northern Philippines.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks. AFP
