MANILA, Oct 19 — Tropical Storm Fengshen killed a family of five today as it ploughed across the Philippines’ main island Luzon, police and disaster officials said.
The family, including two children aged two and 11 years old, were crushed to death when a tree fell on their house at daybreak, police official Sonny Ombajino told AFP by telephone.
The incident occurred at a village near the town of Pitogo, about 153km south-east of Manila, as the storm raked across the southeastern section of Luzon overnight.
Fengshen hovered over Manila Bay late this morning with gusts of up to 90km an hour and was poised to strike provinces north of the capital Manila, the state weather service said.
At least 47,000 people left their homes and headed to government-designated temporary shelters across southeast Luzon since yesterday, local disaster officials said, as the weather service warned of possible coastal flooding and landslides.
The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking areas where millions of people live in poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks. — AFP
