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Manila: Typhoon Fengshen that overturned a ferry in the central Philippines sea killing six people stomped through the central region taking a toll of about 230 lives, officials said on Monday.
Two people were killed in the central Luzon's mountain and 222 others from 14 affected regions.
The typhoon wreaked havoc in 20 provinces, 117 municipalities, 23 cities, and 799 villages before leaving for for Taiwan and China yesterday.
The number of fatalities could rise sharply as 966 others remained missing, 223 nationwide and 743 from the ill-fated Princess of the Stars ferry, which sank off Sibuyan island, near Romblon on Saturday.
Fresh reports from affected areas started to arrive at the regional disaster offices on Monday.
Missing
Eleven people remained missing when three fishing boats capsized in three different incidents off the coast of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur in the south.
Twenty seven were rescued from the three incidents. About 90 residents were killed and 122 missing in the flooded towns of Iloilo province, in central Philippines.
"The towns still look like an ocean," said Governor Neil Tupaz.
Two mountaineers, Joan Pimentel and Joseph Pelarca, died in Zambales province in central Luzon. Thaddeus Reandazo remained missing. Nine other mountaineers were rescued earlier.
Floods reached as high as chest level near the Aklan river in central Philippines, local officials said.
Thousands of passengers were stranded as authorities prevented 200 vessels from travelling to Mindoro and Romblon in southern Luzon.
Some 99,700 families or 475,500 people were displaced by the rampaging typhoon.
Sustained winds
Authorities said the damage amounted to as high as 1 billion pesos (Dh90,909).
With sustained winds of 120km per hour and gusts of up to 150km/h, Fengshen carried rains on northern Luzon.
By then, central Philippines, southern Luzon and Manila, were brutally savaged, said Anthony Golez, deputy chief of the Office of Civil Defence.
Fengshen was the country's seventh typhoon this year.
A total of 21 typhoons visit the country at the start of the rainy season in June.
Tragic sea disasters have been occurring in the Philippines. Ferry dona Paz sank in 1987 killing 4,341 people.
Ferries provide cheap transportation around the 7,100 islands in the Philippines and is the means of travel for thousands of common people.
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