Typhoon death toll rise in Philippines
Updated
The death toll from Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines has risen to eight with hopes fading for 13 gold miners still trapped in a flooded tunnel.
The civil defence office says four people drowned, three others were killed by landslides and another person was electrocuted by a fallen power line after Hagupit hit the archipelago on Sunday.
Almost 5,000 people are still displaced by the typhoon that left the country on Monday, heading west towards southern China.
In the northern town of Itogon, rescue workers were still struggling to reach 13 miners who were trapped after typhoon-induced rain washed mud down into their tunnel.
"Their chances of surviving are low," said Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin, head of the provincial police, remarking that the trapped miners did not have an oxygen supply even as water flooded the tunnels.
However engineer Neoman dela Cruz, regional director of the mining board, who is overseeing the rescue effort, says they are still optimistic they can reach the trapped miners later today.
He says their efforts are being hampered by equipment breakdowns and a lack of sufficient oxygen for the rescuers trying to dig the miners out.
