Death Toll from severe tropical storm Nalgae in Philippines reaches to 72

TIL Desk/World/Manila/ The death toll from severe tropical storm Nalgae, which unleashed floods and set off landslides in several parts of the Philippines, has climbed to 72, a spokesperson for a government disaster agency said on Saturday. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesperson Rafaelito Alejandro said majority of the fatalities, or 67, were reported in Maguindanao province. He added that at least 14 people have remained missing.

Maguindanao is a province in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Its interior and local government minister Naguib Sinarimbo said nine towns in Maguindanao were severely flooded, and most parts of Cotabato City were underwater for the first time in years. The BARMM has “raised our alert level to red” since Friday.

According to local media reports, a village in Datu Odin Sinsuat was buried in the landslide, resulting in at least 50 deaths. Nalgae is the 16th cyclone to lash the Philippines this year. It slammed into Catanduanes, an island province in the Bicol region, before dawn on Saturday. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Nalgae was blowing maximum winds of 95 km per hour, with gusts of up to 160 km per hour on Saturday.