Flood in Davao City

Death toll from Davao floods now at 14

 

 DAVAO CITY (2nd update, 10:14 a.m.) -- Fatalities in the flooding incident caused by heavy rains in this city late Tuesday night has risen to 14.

A television report said majority of the fatalities are children living beside the Matina river, which overflowed.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte earlier confirmed that four fatalities include a girl aged three to four, a six-year-old boy, a man and a woman aged more than 50.



Search and rescue teams found the bodies of the fatalities early Wednesday during their operations.

Fifteen others earlier went missing and thousands were affected in the three-hour downpour from past 10 p.m. Tuesday to around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

It was not immediately known if the some of the 15 people missing were among the dead.

Authorities have yet to identify the latest fatalities.

Duterte said the heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, particularly the Matina river that caused floods of up to more than 10 meters high.

She said the affected villages include Matina Pangi, Matina Crossing, Matina Aplaya, and Talomo.

Classes in the four villages were suspended Wednesday.

Duterte said residents in the four villages were evacuated and around 20,000 to 40,000 were affected by the floods.

She added the most affected was Barangay Matina Pangi, where the flood washed out the homes of about 40 families. Matina river is located in the said village.

The mayor said it was not the first time Matina river overflowed, however, almost all the rivers in the city overflowed, which caused flooding.

Duterte also said the flood has subsided and some residents returned to their homes and conducted cleanup operations.

The search and rescue operation is ongoing for the missing people.