Philippines assess damage from Morakot

MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Damages to roads, bridges and crops from last week's Typhoon Morakot, which killed 21 people in the Philippines, totaled $750,000, officials said.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported Sunday landslides and non-stop rains triggered by the typhoon washed out roads, bridges, sea walls and dikes in Benguet, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, with damages totaling 35.9 million Philippines pesos, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.

A dike at Pinatubo broke Thursday, unleashing floodwaters into rivers that submerged 10 villages in Zambales province, killing three foreign tourists when their vehicle was engulfed.

The newspaper said 13 of the 21 deaths occurred in the Cordillera Administrative Region, seven in Central Luzon and one in the Manila metropolitan area. At least three landslides were recorded in Benquet where an elementary school collapsed.

Miners were buried by a landslide in Barangay Kias in Baguio City, and the Inquirer said rescuers have launched massive efforts to scour creeks that flow into the Bued River to look for the missing workers.