Tropical Storm Nalgi hits the Philippines, killing 45

Filipinos secure their homes after heavy rains brought by storm "Nalgi" in Manila.

Reuters

Tropical Storm "Nalgi", which threatens the capital Manila yesterday, reached the Philippines, after it was preceded by floods and landslides that killed at least 45 people, according to new, reduced official figures.

Storm "Nalgi" is sweeping the main island of Luzon in the Philippines, with winds of 95 kilometers per hour, since its arrival after dawn to land.

But the devastation began long before the storm made landfall. Heavy rains inundated rural areas in southern Mindanao on Thursday, followed by deadly landslides and floods on Friday.

The government revised the official death toll from the storm yesterday, from 72 to 45.

Civil defense officials acknowledged that the rescue teams sent to the south of the country, which was flooded, on Friday, miscalculated the number, as some victims were counted twice.

In turn, the commander of the National Civil Defense Service, Raffaeleto Alejandro, confirmed that the death toll had decreased, and that the dead had been found at the disaster site in Mindanao (southern) region, and said that five other people had died in other regions across the country.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos criticized civil defense and local officials yesterday.

"It is important to look back and see why this happened," he said on television.

Why couldn't we evacuate them?

Why is the number of victims so high?

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news