Death toll at 45 as Tropical Storm Nalgae drenches Philippines
Maguindanao province has been hardest hit by rain-induced floods and mudslides.
The Philippines has officially recorded 45 deaths from Tropical Storm Nalgae, which has brought flash floods and landslides to provinces in the south of the country, revising downward an earlier figure of more than 70, officials said.
The tropical storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 95km (59 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 160kph (99.4 mph), made landfall in the eastern Catanduanes province early on Saturday.
The southern region of Mindanao has been the hardest hit with 40 bodies recovered so far, national civil defence chief Rafaelito Alejandro said at a news conference in Manila.
Fatalities were also reported earlier in Sultan Kudarat, in South Cotabato, and in the Visayas region in central Philippines.
Earlier on Saturday the civil defence office had reported 72 dead, but Alejandro said the toll was reduced after local “validation”.
More than 30 people have been injured and 15 are missing, spokesman and civil defence chief for the southern region Naguib Sinarimbo told Agence-France Presse.
Storm Nalgae will bring heavy and at times torrential rains over the capital, Manila, and nearby provinces on Saturday as it cuts through the main Luzon island and heads to the South China Sea, the state weather agency said in its latest bulletin.
Barnaby Lo, reporting for Al Jazeera from Manila, said on Saturday that the capital had experienced around 10 hours of continuous rain and the precipitation was expected to continue through to Sunday.
