Philippine Typhoon Toll Rises

Hundreds of people are feared dead after Typhoon Durian swept across the central Philippines on Thursday, causing flash floods and burying villages in waves of muddy volcanic ash and huge rocks.

Last night the country's civil defence office said 198 people had died, with 260 missing, but the death toll was expected to rise. "There are a lot of conflicting reports but, looking at the trend, we could have about 300 to 400 people dead by tonight," Richard Gordon, head of the local Red Cross, said in a TV interview.

Glen Rabonza, head of the civil defence office, said rescue workers were struggling to pull people from the debris, and President Gloria Arroyo ordered the military to help reach those in submerged villages. More than 100 people died after mudslides struck several villages on the slopes of the Mayon volcano.

"The disaster covered almost every corner of this province - rampaging floods, falling trees, damaged houses," Fernando Gonzalez, governor of Albay province, the worst-hit area, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. "It happened very rapidly and many people did not expect this because they haven't experienced mud flows in those areas before."

Reports emerged of residents of Padang village having their clothes ripped off as they were carried away by muddy flows of volcanic ash. "It's terrible," Noel Rosal, mayor of Legazpi city, Albay's capital, told AP. "Based on our interviews with residents and village officials, more than 100 people were killed or [went] missing."

The typhoon caused havoc with phone links, power lines and roads, and the extent of the damage remained unclear.

By last night the storm was heading to towards the South China Sea. It was expected to weaken to a tropical storm before striking Vietnam on Monday.