MANILA: The death toll from a tropical storm in the southern Philippines climbed swiftly to 133 on Saturday, as rescuers pulled dozens of bodies from a swollen river, police said.

Tropical Storm Tembin has lashed the nation’s second-largest island of Mindanao since Friday, triggering flash floods and mudslides.

The Philippines is pummelled by 20 major storms each year on average, many of them deadly. But Mindanao, home to 20 million people, is rarely hit by these cyclones.

Rescuers retrieved 36 bodies from the Salog River in Mindanao on Saturday, as officials reported more fatalities in the impoverished Zamboanga peninsula.

The bodies were swept downriver from a flooded town upstream called Salvador, Rando Salvacion, the Sapad town police chief, said. Authorities in Salvador said they had retrieved 17 other bodies upstream.

Salvador and Sapad are in Lanao del Norte, which is one of the provinces hardest hit by Tembin.

The death toll for the Zamboanga peninsula also rose to 28, and police said 81 people were missing after mud and rocks swept down coastal communities in Sibuco and other fishing towns.

Tembin struck less than a week after Tropical Storm Kai-Tak left 54 dead and 24 missing in the central Philippines.

The deadliest typhoon to hit the country was Haiyan, which killed thousands and destroyed entire towns in heavily populated areas of the central Philippines in November 2013.

Tembin is expected to hit the tip of the western island of Palawan late Saturday, the state weather service said.

At least 30 residents were reported missing in a coastal “barangay” (village) in Zamboanga del Norte province when they were trapped by flash floods and landslides.

Mayor Norbiderri Edding of the town of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte told DzMM radio said that as of early on Saturday, rescue teams have recovered at least five bodies from the village that brought to 47 the total death toll inflicted by Tembin (local name Vinta) over the whole of Mindanao.

But Edding expressed fear that the more than 25 villagers reported as still missing also died when flash floods inundated their village and landslides roared down on their houses at the height of Tembin.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said they have yet to confirm Edding’s report, adding that as of Saturday, the storm’s total death toll has already soared from 28 to 47.

Officials noted that the total of 47 equalled the death toll reported when tropical storm Kai-tak (local name Urduja) battered Eastern Visayas in Central Philippines less than a week ago.

Tembin likewise downed power lines that left wide areas without electricity, and caused the cancellation of flights to and from Mindanao as the Philippine Coast Guard implemented its “no sail” ban that left about 11,000 passengers going home for Christmas stranded at the various ports in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, state weathermen reported that Tembin maintained its strength as it crossed the Sulu Sea on its way to the island province of Palawan in Southern Luzon, bearing maximum centre winds of 80 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 95 kph.

Based on their projections, Tembin is to exit from the Philippines on Sunday, Christmas Eve, after bringing heavy winds and strong rain that caused floods and landslides over wide areas especially in Northern Mindanao.