Toll in Philippine typhoon reaches 65

MANILA - The death toll from a deadly typhoon that pummelled the Philippines earlier in the week rose to 65 with dozens still missing, the government said Saturday.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said 87 people remained missing since Typhoon Conson battered the Philippines main island of Luzon Tuesday.

Conson, which packed maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 150 kph, uprooted trees, toppled electric posts, snapped transmission lines and triggered flashfloods.

Most of the victims drowned, were hit by fallen trees or electrocuted, according to the NDCC.

Coast Guard vessels and air force planes and helicopters scoured the seas in search of the missing.

All the bodies recovered overnight were found floating in the sea or at the riverbanks, the coast guard said.

Damage to infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries was estimated at 188.07 million pesos ($4 million).

Conson was the second typhoon to hit the country this year.

The Philippines is located within the so-called typhoon belt of the Pacific with up to 20 cyclones sweeping through the country every year, killing hundreds of people.

Last year, close to 1,000 people were killed and nearly 10 million displaced after back-to-back storms caused the worst flooding in decades in Manila and landslides in northern provinces.