PHILIPPINES: More than 300 people died after flash floods and landslides devastated three coastal towns and left swathes of the northern Philippines under water yesterday.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers were unable to reach areas cut off by huge mudslides and fast-moving floodwater which came in the wake of tropical depression Winnie and as the country braced itself for another powerful storm.
At least 306 people died in the towns of Real, Infanta and General Nakar in Quezon province, about 80 km (50 miles) east of Manila, said Ms Corazón Solimanthe, the social welfare secretary.
Ms Soliman said 150 people were still missing in Real, where witnesses said a torrent of logs and mud had swept down from the Sierra Madre mountains during Monday night's downpour.
Illegal logging has been blamed for leaving towns vulnerable to landslides, a factor in several disasters in recent years.
"We think that illegal logging can be one of the main reasons why floods affected those towns," said Mr Jayjay Suarez, vice-governor of Quezon province.
The National Disaster Co-ordinating Committee said at least 21 people were killed in other provinces in the main northern island of Luzon.
Mr Armand Balilo, a spokesman for the coastguard, said 12 people rescued from Real were in critical condition.
"The critically wounded had fractured legs, with pieces of wood piercing their legs. Some had lacerations on their bodies," he said.
A spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she would return from a summit of south-east Asian nations in Laos to help co-ordinate the rescue operations.
The floods came just a week after storms left about 160 dead or missing, stretching the facilities of the country's poorly equipped rescue services and military.
Winnie moved into the South China Sea, but a more powerful storm is on course to hit the country tomorrow and is gathering strength as it approaches the east coast.
"A new typhoon is headed in our direction," the Defence Secretary, Mr Avelino Cruz, told reporters, referring to tropical storm Nanmadol.
"This one is much stronger and has a wider coverage than the one that hit Quezon province."
Officials said rescue efforts were being hampered by landslides blocking roads and a lack of helicopters.
Hundreds of families lost their homes in Marikina City in Manila, and Montalban in Rizal province.