Philippines Hit By New Typhoon

The second typhoon to hit the Philippines in a week today began to batter the islands as rescuers continued their efforts to find those missing after an earlier storm left up to 600 people dead.

Typhoon Nanmadol, which has winds of up to 150mph, was forecast to be even stronger than Typhoon Winnie, which - with its related storms - this week killed at least 420 people and left around 200 missing.

The Philippines' Office of Civil Defence has evacuated 168,000 people to higher ground in an effort to help them escape the worst effects of the storms. Many others have taken shelter in evacuation centres set up in schools and town halls.

Entire provinces facing the Pacific have already been devastated by Winnie. The typhoon left fields littered with bodies and uprooted trees, and has destroyed homes and bridges.

With Nanmadol due to hit land, schools and offices were closed in the capital, Manila, as well as in other areas of the main northern island of Luzon. Coastguard officials have banned ferries and fishing boats from leaving port, while the air force's rescue fleet has been grounded by the weather.

A navy gunboat also had to be turned round as it tried to take food and medicine to Real, east of Manila. The town bore the brunt of Winnie's strength when at least 150 people were killed by a landslide earlier this week. Up to 100 of the victims were believed to have been inside a building when it collapsed.

Around 400 soldiers carrying relief supplies set out for Real on foot, inching along a route blocked by up to 20 landslides.

The president, Gloria Arroyo, today distributed aid during a visit to Maragundon, on the outskirts of Real, and stressed the importance of protecting the environment. A crackdown on illegal logging has already been ordered.

Around 20 tropical storms and typhoons a year hit the Philippines. Another typhoon and a related storm last week killed at least 87 people and left 70 missing in the east of the nation of islands.