The death toll from a typhoon that devastated the southern Philippines earlier this month has topped 1,000 as hundreds more remain missing, the government said on Sunday.
Typhoon Bopha killed 1,020 people, mostly on the southern island of Mindanao where floods and landslides caused major damage on December 4, civil defence chief Benito Ramos said.
A total of 844 people remain missing, about half of them fishermen who ventured out to sea before Bopha hit, Ramos said, adding he feared many of the missing were dead.
"The death toll will go higher. We found a lot of bodies yesterday, buried under fallen logs and debris," he told AFP.
He added the toll from Bopha, the worst natural disaster to hit the country this year, would exceed the 1,268 confirmed dead after Typhoon Washi struck the southern Philippines in December 2011.
"We prepared. We were just simply overwhelmed," said Ramos.
"They did not expect this intensity. The last time (this part of the country) got hit by a strong storm was 1912," he added.
He added that many evacuation centres were destroyed by the typhoon.
More than 27,000 people remain in such centres almost two weeks after Bopha hit as the search for the dead and missing continues, the civil defence office said.
Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesman of the military forces in the worst-affected region, was less optimistic of finding any survivors.
"We are on (body) retrieval mode already. We are done with search and rescue," he told AFP.
Paniza, who oversees the hardest-hit regions which suffered over 960 dead, said he expected the death toll to rise further.
"It has been 12 days already so it looks like (survival chances) are doubtful," he said.
Among the casualties were seven soldiers who were killed and four who remain missing after they were hit by flash floods while doing relief work, he said.
In the southern town of New Bataan, which suffered over 500 dead, including 235 bodies that are still unidentified, people still struggled to recover, building makeshift shelters out of scrap wood and rags.
Town Mayor Lorenzo Balbin said the toll of the dead may even be larger than the official lists because many transients, who pass through the town of work on small-scale mines and plantations, do not even register as residents.
With no one to report them missing, their deaths may go unnoticed, he said.
The situation in the town, which was largely flattened by the typhoon, had improved slightly as more relief aid was reaching the area.
Trucks from government and private relief agencies were seen entering New Bataan, handing out much-needed food to villagers still stunned by the storm's fury.
Balbin said the focus now was on finding new crops to replace those destroyed by the typhoon.
The storm has caused massive damage to infrastructure and agriculture, destroying large tracts of coconut and banana trees.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council initially estimated damage to crops and public infrastructure at 7.16 billion pesos ($174 million).
The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms or typhoons each year that occur mainly during the rainy season between June and October. Bopha was the strongest typhoon to strike this year.
AFP
Sun Dec 16 2012
![Philippines typhoon death toll tops 1000 Philippines typhoon death toll tops 1000](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-12/81354944715_120x90.jpg)
Enam MP kekal : Tak adil salahkan Speaker - Gobind
Mengenai keputusan mengekalkan enam kerusi Parlimen bekas ahli Bersatu, Gobind Singh Deo berkata tidak adil untuk salahkan Speaker buat keputusan yang diperuntukkan undang-undang.
![Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721123744_tokandadah.jpg)
Tokan dadah ditahan bersama dua pucuk pistol di Alor Setar
Polis menahan dua lelaki dan merampas dua pucuk pistol serta pelbagai jenis dadah dalam dua tangkapan di Taman Lam Foong, di Alor Setar.
![Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/51719354914_Destroyedbuildings.jpg)
Tiada tempat selamat di Gaza, kata ketua PBB
Beliau berkata tahap pertempuran dan kemusnahan yang melampau di Gaza tidak dapat difahami dan tidak boleh dimaafkan.
![Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721121786_MuhyiddinYassin.jpg)
Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin memberitahu bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary.
![Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/81712376317_TujuanForensik.jpg)
Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas
Gen HNF4A (Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha) didapati akan berhenti berfungsi pada tubuh pesakit kanser pankreas.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Potensi dan cabaran percambahan e-Sukan di Malaysia
Pengerusi Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) Negeri Selangor
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
Jualan kereta di Malaysia diunjur cecah 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) melakukan semakan semula berkaitan sasaran jumlah keseluruhan industri (TIV) kepada 765,000 unit berbanding unjuran awal 740,000 unit untuk 2024. Semakan dibuat disokong oleh persekitaran ekonomi yang positif dan jumlah tempatan tertunggak yang masih berada pada tahap yang baik
Kementerian Digital cari kaedah kurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois
Kerajaan sedang mencari kaedah mengurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois untuk Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) selepas sistem itu diwajibkan untuk semua perniagaan pada 1 Julai 2025
Perbelanjaan pengguna dijangka meningkat tahun ini
Perbelanjaan Pengguna Malaysia dijangka meningkat sepanjang tahun ini
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
![Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721123609_lokasi.jpg)
Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian
Suspek kes pembunuhan Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah dibawa ke lokasi kejadian di ladang kelapa sawit di Kampung Sri Keledang, Hulu Bernam, Selangor.
![Pasca taufan Bhopa - Gerakan menggali bermula Pasca taufan Bhopa - Gerakan menggali bermula](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-12/61354944731_295x200.jpg)
Pasca taufan Bhopa - Gerakan menggali bermula
Pasukan mencari dan menyelamat mula menggali kesan runtuhan dan lumpur bagi mengeluarkan mayat mangsa yang terkorban berikutan bencana taufan Bhopa di selatan Filipina baru-baru ini.