Lawin leaves 12 dead in Northern Luzon

MANILA, Philippines - At least 12 people were killed in the wake of ferocious winds and rains brought by Super Typhoon Lawin in Northern Luzon overnight, officials said yesterday.

Two construction workers died when a landslide buried their shanty in La Trinidad town in Benguet, while two villagers perished in another landslide and another was swept away in a river and remains missing in Ifugao province.

A 70-year-old man died apparently of a heart attack in an emergency shelter while another man died after being pinned by a fallen tree in Isabela province.

An 85-year-old woman identified only as Cariaga perished in Pasuquin town in Ilocos Norte.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Ricardo Jalad said landslides that hit two towns in Benguet claimed the lives of Jhon Carlos Hatop, a 19-day-old baby; Joshua Halle, 19, Jessie Hella, 28, all of Sagpat, Kibungan and 65-year-old Arsenio Lantaen of Abatan, Buguias.

Over in La Trinidad, 40-year-old Edgar Genese and Jonie Borja, 35, also died in a landslide that hit their village.

In Ifugao, a certain Junior Chawagan, 16, and Jeramel Alfaro, 17, perished in a landslide that hit residential areas in Hungduan town. 

A certain Larry Duyapat, also from Hungduan, was reported missing.

Jalad said forced evacuations from high-risk communities helped prevent a larger number of casualties.

“Search, rescue and retrieval operations are ongoing,” he said.

Jalad said they forced the evacuation of 18,157 families from villages in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region, Bicol and the Cordillera Administrative Region.  – AP