At least 12 people, including three European tourists, were killed and 73,171 have been affected by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain north of Manila, police and officials said Saturday. Two French tourists and a Belgian who died were among 12 European and South Korean hikers caught in heavy rain after scaling Mount Pinatubo volcano Thursday, said regional police official Chief Superintendent Leo Nilo De La Cruz. Nine Filipinos also died in separate incidents. A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry in Paris said two French nationals had died and six others, including one injured tourist, were rescued. A spokesman for the Belgian foreign ministry, Bart Ouvry, said a man from Brussels aged about 40 died in the incident but gave no further details. The six French tourists who survived, together with three South Koreans, were rescued by an air force helicopter. The French embassy consul Arnaut Rayar said he had spoken to the French survivors earlier in the day but “they were too shocked to go into details.” The foreigners had hiked up the volcano, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Manila, but after they descended were caught by heavy rain that mixed with volcanic ash on the slopes to form deadly, fast-moving mudslides. A Filipino guide and a Filipino rescuer were also killed. The 1,475-metre (4,850-foot) Mount Pinatubo erupted with devastating force in 1991, spewing a plume of ash 30 miles into the sky, killing more than 800 people. Since then, it has become a popular attraction for mountaineers and hikers. In Baguio City, three children were killed after the rain triggered a landslide that buried their shanty town, said local police official Chief Inspector Paul Mencio. In Zambales province, near Pinatubo, the heavy rain caused a dike to burst, flooding 10 villages and leaving a husband and wife dead, said Governor Amor Deloso. The floods also washed out a major bridge and forced some 2,100 people to flee their homes for evacuation centres, the Zambales governor said. He appealed for more assistance, saying some residents were isolated by floods and were forced to climb up trees to avoid the rising waters. At least 73,171 people were affected when the typhoon locally named “Kiko” lashed parts of the country, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Saturday. Until 8 a.m., the NDCC said 14,590 families or 73,171 people were affected in 58 villages in three cities and six towns in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Metro Manila. Of these, 1,085 families or 3,959 people were evacuated to nine evacuation centers. Meanwhile, at least four domestic and international flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been canceled as the effects of the typhoon lingered, airport officials said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered government agencies to extend help to people affected by typhoon “Kiko” and tropical storm “Jolina” in past weeks, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said. Remonde, who is with Arroyo in Cebu, said the NDCC and Department of Social Welfare and Development are to focus efforts on relief and evacuation. “The president issued the order (a) day ago. The DSWD and NDCC are to focus on relief and evacuation,” he said on government-run dzRB radio. Arroyo is also likely to visit the affected areas next week, he added. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture in Benguet and Pampanga alone was initially estimated at P4.26 million - P2.75 million to infrastructure and P1.51 million to agriculture. At least 23 houses were destroyed and six damaged in Benguet. Tublay, Atok, a portion of Benguet State University, Atok Trail, Tuba, Camp 3, Itogon and Central Halili in Benguet continued to experience power interruptions. The towns of Dolores, San Juan and Tineg in Abra province likewise experienced brownouts. Although typhoon ‘Kiko' was able to spread havoc to several provinces in central and northern Luzon, it does not belong yet to the group of the most destructive typhoons that visited the country.
