Landslides, floods kill at least 19 in northern Philippines

(CNN) -- Heavy monsoon rains have left at least 19 people dead, most of them children, in the northern Philippines, state media reported.

Four other people are still reported to be missing, and many towns are flooded.

Most of the people were killed by landslides set off by the rain in the province of Zambales on Luzon, the largest island in the archipelagic nation, the government-run Philippines News Agency (PNA) said, citing the regional disaster management council.

The landslides killed 16 people in the town of Subic, the council said. At least 10 of the victims were aged 12 or younger.

An 84-year-old man died of hypothermia in nearby Castillejos, PNA reported, and two people drowned in the neighboring province of Bataan.

A landslide engulfed a house in San Marcelino, Zambales, on Sunday night and four of its inhabitants, including three young children, remain missing, authorities said.

Monsoon rains cause flooding and deaths in the Philippines each year.

The disaster management council said that as of Tuesday morning, parts of Zambales, Bataan and two other provinces, Pampanga and Bulacan, are still under as much of four feet (1.2 meters) of water.

More than 11,000 people have been displaced by the effects of the monsoon rains, the national disaster management council said.


Source: CNN