Tropical storm triggers landslides in Philippines, 11 dead

Floods and landslides killed 11 people after a fierce tropical storm dumped heavy rain on the Philippines for a second day, officials said on Monday.

Tropical Storm Yagi brushed past the Bicol region southeast of Manila overnight Sunday and was expected to make a landfall later Monday on the northeast coast of the main island of Luzon.

As a precaution, schools and government offices across the capital Manila were shut for the day, while ferry services in affected areas were suspended and 29 domestic flights cancelled due to the weather.

Three people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in a landslide Monday in Antipolo, near the equally rain-soaked capital, city information officer Relly Bonifacio told AFP.

He said the bodies of four other people, all drowning victims, were recovered Monday in three other areas of the hilly community, hours after creeks overflowed overnight.

The Bicol city of Naga was also hard-hit, with a man electrocuted as floodwaters rose and a baby girl drowning, rescuers said.

"The floods were above head height in some areas," Joshua Tuazon of the city's public safety office told AFP, adding that hundreds of residents had been rescued.

More than 300 people remained at evacuation camps on Monday, with local officials saying the floodwaters in the city of 210,000 people were slow to ebb.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens of people.

• World