50 dead, dozens feared missing in Philippines rain

MANILA: Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains in Philippines left at least 50 people dead, including in a hard-hit southern province where as many as 60 villagers are feared missing and buried in a huge mudslide laden with rocks, trees and debris, officials said on Saturday.
At least 42 people were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were hit by debris-filled mudslides in three towns in Maguindanao province from Thursday night to early Friday, said Naguib Sinarimbo, the interior minister for an autonomous region. The worst storm impact so far was a mudslide that buried dozens of houses with as many as 60 people in the tribal village of Kusiong in Maguindanao’s Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Sinarimbo said.