A storm that ripped through the Philippines's central and southern regions may have killed as many as 350 people, officials said today.
At least 115 bodies have been recovered in four provinces while 234 were still missing and feared dead on the southern island of Camiguin, regional civil defence director Mr Casiano Matela said.
"They are buried under three metres of mud. I think they are all dead," Mr Matela said, referring to those missing on Camiguin where rescue teams continued their search.
A day after a river of mud and boulders tumbled down from the hills and flattened hundreds of houses on Camiguin, tropical storm "Lingling" ripped through the central Visayas region, triggering more floods and landslides.
The storm pummelled the central islands of Cebu, Panay and Negros today and was expected to hit Palawan island in the west tomorrow before exiting out into the South China Sea heading toward Vietnam, the weather bureau said.