66 dead as typhoon Kalmaegi rages through Philippines

Manila [Philippines], November 5 (ANI): At least 66 people have been killed due to Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally known as Typoon Tino which lashed through central Philippines, local media reported on Wednesday.

At 8 am local time today the typhoon made its eighth landfall in El Nido in Palawan island and continues to head into the West Philippine Sea or the South China Sea , according to PAGASA, the country's weather bureau.

It is expected to re-intensify over the sea and could reach its peak strength within the next 12 hours (local time), official media PNA reported this morning.

In its 11 am bulletin, the Philippines weather agency noted that the centre of Tino eye was estimated at 190 km west of Coron, Palawan. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h near the centre and gustiness of up to 180 km/h is moving west-northwestward at 20 km/h, PAGASA said.

The country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council estimated the 49 of the reported fatalities were were from Cebu, most of them due to fallen debris, landslides and flooding on account of rains.

The NDRRMC also said 13 persons are still missing in Cebu, along with 13 others in La Castella, Negros Occidental.

The death toll also includes six crew members of a military helicopter that crashed yesterday on Mindanao island after it was deployed to assist in relief efforts.

The Philippine Air Force said the Super Huey helicopter was being flown by two pilots and four aircrew members when it went down in Agusan del Sur on Tuesday afternoon.

Tino, the country's 20th cyclone this year, battered a large part of the Visayas and some areas in Mindanao and Southern Luzon, causing widespread destruction, the official media PNA said.

The typhoon has affected some 706,000 people, of whom around 348,000 took shelter in evacuation centre, the National Disaster Management agency stated.

According to predictions, heavy rains, severe winds, and possible storm surges are likely over Palawan and nearby areas with low-lying and coastal communities under high risk of life-threatening storm surges exceeding 3 meters within the next 24 hours.

The typhoon is expected to leave the Philippine area of responsibility late Wednesday or early Thursday and is forecast to move on to Vietnam.

Vietnam has requested that neighbouring countries facilitate Vietnamese vessels seeking shelter and repairs. Six coastal provinces have issued directives to monitor the storm, speed up flood recovery, give alerts to fishing vessels, and operate reservoirs safely to protect downstream areas, VNA reported.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, known locally as Nando, struck the Philippines in late September, followed by Typhoon Bualoi, known locally as Opong.

The Cebu area in the Philippines had over a month ago witnessed death and destruction in the aftermath of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck it on October 30. (ANI)

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