POLA, Philippines (AFP) — Searches were under way Monday for seven fishermen in the Philippines as a typhoon swept across the archipelago, flooding low-lying areas and forcing thousands of people into emergency shelters.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, Typhoon Quinta (international name Molave) made landfall Sunday on the southern end of the main island of Luzon before moving west across the country.
Villages and farmland in the typhoon’s path were flooded while powerful winds toppled trees and power lines.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said no deaths had been recorded.
More than 70,000 people had sought shelter in evacuation centres in the Bicol region, Civil Defense said.
Search operations for 12 fishermen reported missing across three areas in Bicol have so far located five of them alive, it added.
And at least two people were injured by a falling tree in Oriental Mindoro province, its governor told local broadcaster Teleradyo.
Rescuers were also searching for a person missing after their boat was submerged in Batangas province, south of Manila. Seven other crew members were rescued.
Molave was forecast to start moving across the South China Sea Monday.
© Agence France-Presse