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Manila: Typhoon Fengshen's death toll in the Philippines reached 498 on Thursday as a US aircraft carrier group arrived in the country to bring relief materiel.
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), casualties had risen to 498 with 263 still missing in various regions of the country.
Most of the missing were fishermen from the Central Philippine island of Panay who had set out to the sea before the weather bureau had issued a typhoon warning last Saturday.
According to the NDCC, only 221 of the victims have been identified by now.
Damage to infrastructure had been estimated by the NDCC at 5.5 billion pesos (Dh455 million).
The total number of people affected by Fengshen was 487,412 families or 2,444,646 residents from 42 provinces in the regions of Ilocos, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Caraga, Cordillera Autonomous Region and Metro Manila.
The typhoon had destroyed 59,616 houses and damaged a further 118,851.
The NDCC said that eleven sea accidents occurred during onslaught of Fengshen with eight fatalities and 23 missing.
These sea accidents do not include the number of fatalities in the tragedy involving the MV Princess of the Stars.
Destroyed roads
Fengshen had rendered damage to 19 road networks and destroyed several dikes.
Earlier, President Gloria Arroyo had sought assistance from US President George W. Bush who sent a relief group comprising the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and four other ships to the Philippines.
Despite efforts by the government to adopt a proactive response to disasters, billions of pesos and thousands of lives are lost every year from calamities in the Philippines.
- with inputs from Rafael Juan, Correspondent
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