Typhoon Kalmaegi claims 327 dead, missing in Philippines

ISTANBUL

The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Kalmaegi on Friday rose to 188 while 135 are still missing as it left the country and moved to Vietnam, where it has killed two people.

A total of 96 others were injured due to the devastation caused by Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, said Diego Mariano, deputy spokesman for the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), according to local outlet the Inquirer.

Cebu City in Central Visayas accounted for 139 fatalities, while the remaining deaths were reported in the Cebu Province, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Capiz and Southern Leyte, with one death each in Antique, Iloilo, Guimaras, Bohol, and Leyte.

An official report said some 2.3 million people were affected by the typhoon, with around 398,000 still in evacuation centers.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday also visited the hardest-hit Cebu and Negros areas of the Visayas region to personally oversee relief and recovery operations, according to an official statement.

"President Marcos distributed family food packs, health kits, hygiene kits, and sleeping kits from the Department of Social Welfare and Development” which also provided hot meals to evacuees, it said.

Before leaving the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Thursday, a designated region in the northwestern Pacific where the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) monitors weather disturbances, Kalmaegi made landfall eight times, wreaking havoc across several parts of the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Over 9,500 homes across the country were damaged, including 264 that were completely destroyed.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national calamity due to the impact of Kalmaegi and in anticipation of yet another typhoon, local media reported Thursday.

The Philippines is expected to be hit by Super Typhoon Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, over the weekend.

The devastation comes after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Cebu on Sept. 30, killing many people and displacing thousands.

Impact in Vietnam, Thailand

Five people were killed and another seven were injured in Vietnam's central Dak Lak province when Kalmaegi made landfall in central provinces late Thursday, according to the Vietnam News website, citing official reports.

The storm tore roofs off hundreds of houses, flooded many roads, uprooted trees and power poles, disrupted traffic, and caused large-scale power outages, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

Twelve houses were also completely destroyed, while over 500 were partially damaged.

Over 9,000 people have been evacuated from at-risk areas.

According to the Provincial Civil Defense Command, by Friday morning, the typhoon had weakened into a tropical depression.

The Thailand National Water Command Center also warned that starting Saturday Kalmaegi could bring heavy to very heavy rain to the country’s northeast, including the Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket, Surin, Buriram, Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, Roi Et, Maha Sarakham, Kalasin, and Mukdahan areas.

*Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this story