At least 126 dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides in Philippines

TALISAY, Philippines AP —

The number of dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides wrought by Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines has reached nearly 130 and the president said Saturday that many areas remained isolated with people in need of rescue.

Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 85 people dead and 41 others missing in one of the Southeast Asian archipelago’s deadliest and most destructive storms so far this year, the government’s disaster-response agency said. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from previously isolated areas.

Dozens of police, firefighters and other emergency personnel, backed by three backhoes and sniffer dogs, dug up one of the last two missing villagers in the lakeside town of Talisay in Batangas province Saturday.

An aerial view shows a coast guard rescue boat evacuating residents to safer gounds in Polangui town, Albay province south of Manila, Philippines on October 23, 2024. Torrential rains driven by the storm have turned streets into rivers, submerged entire villages and buried some vehicles up to their door handles in volcanic sediment knocked loose by the downpour.

Related article Tropical Storm Trami brings severe flooding and landslides to the Philippines, at least two dozen dead

A father, who was waiting for word on his missing 14-year-old daughter, wept as rescuers placed the remains in a black body bag. Distraught, he followed police officers, who carried the body bag down a mud-strewn village alley to a police van when one weeping resident approaching him to express her sympathies.

The man said he was sure it was his daughter, but authorities needed to do checks to confirm the identity of the villager