At least 200 people are feared dead following a typhoon in the Philippines as fears mount that the toll could climb after heavy rains and winds triggered landslides.
Villages close to Mount Mayon, around 200 miles south of Manila, were covered in mud and rocks after Durian dislodged mounds of volcanic debris from its slopes.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque cited unconfirmed reports of 200 dead. Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine National Red Cross, said the death toll stood at 146, with more than 80 people trapped and 16 missing.
"Our initial reports showed a total of 146 people were killed in three areas buried by mudslides," Richard Gordon said.
He said the number of casualties was likely to rise as disaster reports came in from other provinces in the central Bicol region where power and communication blackouts as well as impassable roads were hampering rescue efforts.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the military to assist medical teams in reaching submerged villages and disaster agencies called for water supplies, medicines and body bags.
One of the Philippines' most active volcanoes, Mayon raised fears of a major eruption in August after months of spewing lava and boulders.
Undersecretary Dr. Graciano Yumul of the Department of Science and Technology said the storm was particularly damaging because it came ashore in Catanduanes, an island province with no mountains to break the storm's momentum.
"So it really destroyed the island that it hit," Yumul said. "That is the reason you are seeing the kind of destruction you are seeing right now.
Noel Rosal, mayor of Legazpi city, the capital of hard-hit Albay province, visited Padang and said three of the five communities comprising the village of 1,400 people had been "wiped out" with only the roofs of several houses jutting out of the debris.
Agencies