(ANSA) - ROME, APRIL 11 - At least 23 people have lost their lives due to landslides and floods in the Philippines caused by the tropical storm Megi, the first to hit the country this year: Local police reported today, according to the Dpa.
Rescue services recovered 20 bodies in the city of Baybay, on the island of Leyte, about 600 kilometers south-east of the capital Manila.
Dozens of houses have also been buried in the landslides, said the local police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Joemen Collado.
Other people have been overwhelmed by the streams, he later added.
Rescuers are still looking for missing people, not knowing how many there are.
"We have six, but there are probably more," Collado said.
Three more casualties were reported in the southern provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao De Oro, according to the National Council for Disaster Risk Management, which added that 17,892 people were forced to leave their homes in 17 provinces.
Storm Megi, locally called Agaton, has been ravaging the Philippines' east coast since Sunday.
According to the coast guard, more than 1,100 people were stranded in seaports after the suspension of sea voyages.
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