Hanoi (VNA) – At least 30 miners were killed and 13 others wentmissing in a landslide, triggered by Typhoon Mangkhut, in Itogon town, thePhilippines’ northern province of Benguet.
Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, Chief of the Armed Forces of the PhilippinesNorthern Luzon Command, said a total of 43 miners were trapped when the typhoonhit the Philippines on September 15. Rescue efforts are underway for themissing miners.
Mangkhut caused a total of 81 landslides and 13 flooding incidents in theCordillera Administrative Region alone. It is the 15th typhoon andthe strongest to make landfall in the Philippines this year.
Meanwhile, China’s Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions raisedthe storm alert to its highest level on September 16 as Typhoon Mangkhut wasfast approaching.
Serious flooding was reported in Lei Yue Mun fishing village on Kowloon island,with a water level measured at more than one metre. As the storm tore pastCheung Chou island in the southwest of Hong Kong, trees were snapped in half, andwindows and walls in tower blocks and skyscrapers smashed.
Up to 889 flights from Chek Lap Kok International Airport were cancelled; whilerailway, subway and bus services suspended, and schools, offices and shoppingmalls closed.
Nearly 800 residents were preemptively evacuated. Hospitals across Hong Kong have received 111 injured people so far.
Mangkhut also caused the cancellation of more than 400 flights at two airportsof China’s Hainan province on September 16, and all resorts and schools wereclosed.
Guangdong, Hainan and Zhuang autonomous region in Guangxi province all sufferedstrong winds and downpours on the day as Mangkhut battered southern China.
Fishing vessels’ operation and boat and railway services connecting Guangdongand Hainan were halted.
Authorities of Guangdong province opened 3,777 storm shelters and evacuated100,000 people.
Earlier, Mangkhut was predicted to hit Vietnam’s northern region on September17. However, it then changed direction and weakened from a typhoon to atropical storm and moved deeper into China.-VNA