By
JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines
- Tropical storm Xangsane pounded the main Philippine island of
Luzon on Saturday after battering the country's eastern provinces.
At least nine people have died nationwide and 19 fishermen were
missing, officials said.
More than
200 people were injured, many by collapsed walls and flying tin
roofs and debris, officials said.
By nightfall
Saturday, the storm had weakened, with sustained winds of 59 mph
and gusts of up to 74 mph as it blew 18 miles south of the Manila
metropolitan area.
It was moving
toward the western province of Zambales, forecasters said. Earlier,
the storm recorded sustained winds of 68 mph and gusts of up to
86 mph.
Philippine
Airlines canceled flights to the affected eastern provinces, where
the typhoon flooded several towns, set off a landslide and knocked
out power, disaster officials said.
Several international
flights were either canceled or delayed. A Japan Airlines flight
to Manila was diverted to Taipei, airport officials said.
Ships and
fishing boats were warned against venturing into typhoon-battered
areas. Officials said they had launched a search for 19 fishermen
aboard eight motor boats missing off the island of Samar.
A motor boat
capsized near central Cebu province and rescuers saved all 17
people aboard, according to a radio news report.
More than
5,500 commuters and 200 buses, trucks and cars were stranded after
authorities temporarily halted sea ferries to Samar and nearby
areas.
The dead included
a man and a woman who were electrocuted in Catanduanes province
and two women, one of them pregnant, crushed by a fallen tree
in Sorsogon province, said Christina Abat of the Office of Civil
Defense. Two other deaths were reported in Sorsogon and Albay
provinces.
A woman drowned
in Quezon province, and a boy drowned when he was swept away by
strong currents in Isabel in central Leyte province. In Manila,
a woman was crushed to death by a collapsed wall in Makati city.
More than
8,000 people were forced from their homes in Samar and in nearby
Albay, where local officials closely monitored possible mudslides
near villages on the slopes of Mayon volcano, which erupted early
this year.
About 20 typhoons
and storms sweep through the Philippines annually.
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