Philippines floods, landslides, kill at least 12, 8 missing

Landslides and floods caused by non-stop monsoon rains have killed at least 12 people in the Philippines, while eight more were missing and thirteen injured, authorities said.

More than half a million people in 33 provinces have been affected by the southwest monsoon that has been enhanced by two tropical cyclones, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The agency also reported hundreds of damaged homes and infrastructure, with about 98,000 displaced from their homes.

Tens of thousands were evacuated to hundreds of government-run emergency shelters, Laurence Mina of the government’s Office of Civil Defence said.

The deaths were primarily recorded in the provinces of Benguet, Rizal and Batangas, on the nation’s main island, Luzon.

In its mountainous city of Baguio, four people died and six others were missing after a landslide buried several houses, its public information office said in a Facebook post.