'Agaton' death toll now at 61 as more bodies recovered in landslide-hit areas of Baybay City
More bodies have been recovered from landslide-hit areas in Baybay City in Leyte and police said this increased the number of fatalities from tropical depression "Agaton" in the entire Eastern Visayas to 55.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said three more fatalities were recorded in Negros Oriental, two in Davao de Oro and one from Davao Oriental.
Based on the report from the Police Regional Police Office 8, a total of 44 cadavers were retrieved from various barangays in Baybay City, five from Abuyog town and one from Motiong, Samar.
Of the 55 fatalities, 50 of them were already identified while the rest remain unidentified.
Across the region, six people remain missing while a total of 236 people were injured, almost all of them are due to landslides in Baybay City and Abuyog town.
Police Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, director of the Eastern Visayas regional police, said they have already deployed thousands of policemen in various Agaton-affected areas for search, rescue, retrieval and clearing operations, as well as in securing evacuation centers.
Banac said the latest assessment report they received revealed that there are a total of 3,093 families, or 12,133 individuals, who were displaced by landslides and widespread flooding in the region.