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By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA,
Philippines - Tropical storm Xangsane pounded the main Philippine
island of Luzon on Saturday after battering the country's
eastern provinces. At least nine people have died nationwide
and 19 fishermen were missing, officials said.
More
than 200 people were injured, many by collapsed walls and
flying tin roofs and debris, officials said.
By nightfall
Saturday, the storm had weakened, with sustained winds of
59 mph and gusts of up to 74 mph as it blew 18 miles south
of the Manila metropolitan area.
It was
moving toward the western province of Zambales, forecasters
said. Earlier, the storm recorded sustained winds of 68
mph and gusts of up to 86 mph.
Philippine
Airlines canceled flights to the affected eastern provinces,
where the typhoon flooded several towns, set off a landslide
and knocked out power, disaster officials said.
Several
international flights were either canceled or delayed. A
Japan Airlines flight to Manila was diverted to Taipei,
airport officials said.
Ships
and fishing boats were warned against venturing into typhoon-battered
areas. Officials said they had launched a search for 19
fishermen aboard eight motor boats missing off the island
of Samar.
A motor
boat capsized near central Cebu province and rescuers saved
all 17 people aboard, according to a radio news report.
More
than 5,500 commuters and 200 buses, trucks and cars were
stranded after authorities temporarily halted sea ferries
to Samar and nearby areas.
The
dead included a man and a woman who were electrocuted in
Catanduanes province and two women, one of them pregnant,
crushed by a fallen tree in Sorsogon province, said Christina
Abat of the Office of Civil Defense. Two other deaths were
reported in Sorsogon and Albay provinces.
A woman
drowned in Quezon province, and a boy drowned when he was
swept away by strong currents in Isabel in central Leyte
province. In Manila, a woman was crushed to death by a collapsed
wall in Makati city.
More
than 8,000 people were forced from their homes in Samar
and in nearby Albay, where local officials closely monitored
possible mudslides near villages on the slopes of Mayon
volcano, which erupted early this year.
About
20 typhoons and storms sweep through the Philippines annually.
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