1500 people killed by Typhoon Washi

Flooding deaths in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as of the morning of December 27 have skyrocketed to nearly 1,500 people and are expected to continue to rise.

According to the Philippine National Disaster Management Committee, among the dead there were 891 people in Cagayan de Oro City, 451 people in Iligan City, the rest in other provinces.

Iligan people go to receive relief goods on December 25, 2011

On December 27, the sky continued to rain on Mindanao Island, causing flooding in the city of Surigao, leaving a missing child and nearly 2,000 people evacuated.

Benito Ramos, chairman of the Philippine National Disaster Risk Management Committee, told AP that many of the unidentified victims' bodies were found to be washed away far away from the sea, 100km from shore. Most victims cannot identify.

'The search will continue while we collect corpses,' he added.

Earlier, the authorities planned to send scouts to find bodies that were believed to be trapped under the seabeds and along the riverbank, but had to cancel the plan due to the turbid water.'Diving is only useless because the imitator can't see anything,' Mr. Ramos said.

According to experts, this flood causes serious consequences in part due to deforestation and soil erosion. President Benigno Aquino III has now asked for an investigation.