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Typhoon slams into Philippines
28/09/2006 09:28 - (SA)
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| Residents take shelter behind a traffic booth as typhoon Xangsane batters Manila with strong wind and heavy rains (Bullit Marquez, AP) |
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Manila - Typhoon Xangsane unleashed fierce winds and rains as it slammed into northern and central Philippines on Thursday, killing at least four people and shutting down the capital amid widespread floods, officials said.
The Manila airport general manager suspended all flights around noon because of electric power outages.
The storm toppled trees and triggered landslides, blocking some provincial roads. It also shut schools, ferries and the country's financial markets, and forced officials to suspend two commuter trains in metropolitan Manila.
A much-awaited college league basketball championship game was postponed.
Deaths
In Antique province on central Panay island, three people were killed, including a drunk man who fell into a river, a nine-year-old boy and an electrician, said acting governor Eduardo Fortaleza.
A 16-year-old girl was crushed to death by a fallen tree in Lucena city in Quezon province, southeast of Manila.
Fortaleza said rescue workers evacuated about 100 residents who were trapped on an islet in the middle of a raging river in Barbaza town early on Thursday.
In Manila, the winds ripped giant highway tarpaulin billboards and toppled a tree in front of the US embassy, blocking traffic. The embassy was closed for the day.
Strongest typhoon in 11 years
The typhoon packed maximum winds of 130km per hour and gusts of up to 160kph when it made landfall overnight in the central Bicol region.
It weakened into a storm with 110kph winds but picked up speed from 17kph to 19kph as it passed over Manila.
It was the strongest typhoon to directly hit Manila in 11 years. In November 1995, the 260-kph super typhoon Angela battered the Philippine capital after slicing through central provinces, leaving 936 people dead.
- AP
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