Hanoi (VNA) – The death toll from the severe flooding and landslides triggered by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Gaemi has risen to 33, the Philippine police said on July 26.
Eleven people died in the Philippine capital region, Manila and 12 in the Calabarzon region, and 10 from Central Luzon, including the crew of an oil tanker that sunk off Bataan province on July 25.
Gaemi, the third storm to hit the Philippines this year, left the country on July 25 morning, leaving a trail of destruction as it barreled through towns and villages. The typhoon forced hundreds of thousands of villages to abandon communities prone to flood and landslides, toppled trees and electrical posts, and ripped off tin roofs.
Landslides and flash floods are common across the Philippines during the rainy season, especially when a typhoon hits. In 2013, the Philippines was hit by super typhoon Haiyan, which claimed over 7,000 lives.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard plans to deploy oil dispersal and floating barriers a day after a tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel sank off Manila.
An oil slick stretching several kilometres has been detected in the waterway, which thousands of fishermen and tourism operators rely on for their livelihoods. But Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told a briefing on July 25 that it appeared diesel fuel used to power the tanker had leaked and, so far, not the industrial fuel oil cargo.
The Coast Guard has set a target of seven days to offload the cargo and prevent what Balilo warned would be the worst oil spill in Philippine history if it were to leak./.
