By DPA
Manila : At least five persons were killed in a landslide triggered by a tropical storm that battered the northern Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence (OCD) said Sunday.
Four persons were still missing after the landslide buried two houses in Hingyon town in the northern province of Ifugao late Saturday, according to Anthjomny Golez, OCD deputy administrator.
“A nine-year-old child was also injured in the incident,” he said.
The weather bureau said the tropical storm has maintained its strength as it continued to move away from the country towards Vietnam.
It was packing sustained winds of up to 55 km an hour, and moving towards Vietnam at 19 km an hour.
The OCD said the storm also caused massive flooding, forced ferry services to shut down and caused more than 2,000 people to abandon their homes in the affected areas.
On Saturday evening, the coast guard rescued 40 employees of the US embassy who were stranded on Corregidor Island, just west of Manila, amid heavy rains and strong waves.
The employees were all unharmed, the coast guard said.
Hundreds of passengers were also stranded in various ports in the eastern Philippines due to the storm, the OCD said.
The weather bureau warned the public that while the storm was already moving away from the country, more rain was still expected because of another weather disturbance.