Heavy rains caused by tropical storm Trami (Maring) have flooded half of the Philippines’ capital city of Manila in just 24 hours, killing at least seven people and affecting the lives of more than 600,000 people in Manila and surrounding areas in the southwest region.

Landslides and flooding have injured 11 people, and four others are still missing.

According to the Manila Times on August 20, at least 40,000 people had to seek shelter in the Government’s evacuation centres across the main island of Luzon.

With winds of up to 120km per hour, the storm is moving to northern Taiwan (China) and is scheduled to hit the territory in 1-2 days.

The Philippine Coast Guard announced on the same day that the death toll from a fatal collision between a passenger ship and a cargo vessel in the country’s Cebu province rose to 64.

Rescuers are still searching for 56 missing people.

The passenger ship MV St. Thomas Aquinas, carrying 870 people, sank after a collision with the vessel MV Sulpicio Express 7 in Talisay city of Cebu on August 16.-VNA