DPA

Manila - At least 18 people were killed Saturday and thousands fled their homes as a powerful typhoon hit a large area of the Philippines, officials said. Ten people were drowned before dawn when flashfloods swept away houses near the bank of Rifao River in South Upi town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, according to village councillor Joy Veles.
"The river overflowed shortly after midnight so the people residing near the river bank were asleep when their houses were swept away," she said.
An eight-year-old girl and her grandfather were buried in a landslide at a dumpsite in the southern city of Cotabato, 930 kilometres south of Manila, after overnight rains induced by typhoon Fengshen, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
Philippine Red Cross workers said they have recovered five more dead bodies in the swollen rivers in South Upi and in the town of Alamada in nearby North Cotabato province.
One person was also killed after being hit by the debris of a telecommunications tower that collapsed in President Roxas town in Capiz province in central Philippines.
The NDCC said Fengshen triggered heavy rains in eastern, central and southern provinces that caused landslides and mudslides as well as flashfloods.
More than 200,000 people in low-lying areas were evacuated as floodwaters submerged large areas in the central cities of Iloilo and Bacolod and the southern provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.
Fengshen, with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 170 kilometres per hour, was spotted off the coast of Kalibo in the central province of Aklan, 360 kilometres south of Manila.
The weather bureau said Fengshen, which is moving at a speed of 15 kilometres west north-west, was expected to cross the island of Mindoro late Saturday.
Several domestic flights were cancelled and inter-island ferry services were suspended, stranding thousands of passengers.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo met on Saturday with cabinet officials to ensure the smooth flow of relief operations in typhoon-affected areas.