Philippines - post-Ketsana floods

Death toll soars to 246 as President opens palace

Article published on the 2009-09-29 Latest update 2009-09-29 14:57 TU

Residents gather on the rooftop of a house in Binan Laguna, south of Manila
(Photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of thousands of exhausted Philippine flood survivors crowded into schools, gymnasiums and other makeshift shelters on Tuesday, as the death toll from the weekend disaster soared to 246. This spike is 100 more than Monday's assessment.

Three days after a once-in-a-generation storm pounded Manila and surrounding regions, officials said they were unable to cope with the enormous number of flood victims who were continuing to pour into the evacuation centres.

"More people are coming in by the hour... We don't know how long we will be able to sustain this," said Joe Ferrer, a local government official in charge of a basketball court shelter on the outskirts of Metro Manila.

The government said 320,000 survivors of  tropical storm Ketsana on  were sheltering in hundreds of centres, while nearly 250,000 others were receiving some form of aid elsewhere.

The number of homeless was a more than three-fold rise from Monday.

Health authorities warned of disease outbreaks following Saturday’s horror floods, as filthy water covered large areas of Manila

The death toll also jumped significantly after authorities finally started to record those killed in Manila, and not just the neighbouring regions. The government said 101 people had been confirmed killed in the capital, up from seven on Monday.

In an extraordinary move, President Gloria Arroyo opened the Malacanang presidential palace to flood survivors.

"Evacuees will be given shelter in available areas among the Malacanang buildings and in tents that will be put up in between the buildings," Arroyo said in a statement late on Monday.

Meanwhile, two US soldiers have been killed in a landmine blast in the southern Philippines. It is the deadliest attack against American troops since they began helping local forces stamp out Muslim extremists in 2001.

The blast, which struck the troops as they were riding a Humvee vehicle on the outskirts of a town on Jolo island, also claimed the life of a local Marine, Philippine military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said.