Philippine typhoon Haiyan kills 10,000 on tourism island
Manila: One of the most powerful storms recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, with huge waves sweeping away entire coastal villages and devastating the region’s main city.
Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday.Leyte is one of the Philippines’ most historic provinces as it has witnessed many significant events that formed the history of the country. Leyte is also popular among tourists.
Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many described as similar to a tsunami, levelling houses and drowning hundreds of people in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation.
The national government and disaster agency have not confirmed the latest estimate of deaths, a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,000 killed.
Witnesses and officials described chaotic scenes in Leyte’s capital, Tacloban, a coastal city of 220,000 about 580 km southeast of Manila, with hundreds of bodies piled on the sides of roads and pinned under wrecked houses.
Likewise , six people were killed and dozens wounded during heavy winds and storms in central Vietnam as Haiyan approached the coast, state media reported. Vietnam authorities have moved 883,000 people in 11 central provinces to safe zones, according to the government’s website. Despite weakening, the storm is likely to cause heavy rains, flooding, strong winds and mudslides as it makes its way north in the South China Sea.- Agencies
