The death toll from an off-season typhoon that roared across the northern Philippines last week has climbed to 46 as more bodies were recovered, officials said Monday. In the hardest hit northern province of Pangasinan, eight more deaths were recorded, including a 3-month-old boy who died of exposure, bringing the provincial death toll to 24, said disaster relief official Eugene Cabrera. The overall figure for six provinces rose to 46 dead, 13 missing and 42 injured since Typhoon Cha-hom slammed ashore Friday and weakened into a low pressure area, the Office of Civil Defense reported. Nearly 5,000 people remained in evacuation centers, said civil defense administrator Glenn Rabonza, adding about 781 million pesos ($16 million) worth of property and crops also were destroyed. Most of the deaths were caused by landslides, drowning and flying debris, Rabonza was quoted as saying by Associated Press.
