5 missing as ‘Ambo’ leaves Philippines

MTSAT ENHANCED IR Satellite Image for 1:32 p.m., 03 June 2012

MANILA, Philippines – Five people were missing in the Philippines on Sunday as “Ambo” (international codename: Mawar) moved away from the country, now as a much stronger typhoon, rescuers said.

A seven-year-old boy fell into a river east of Manila and was feared to have drowned, while four fishermen were missing at sea off the country’s east, the civil defense office said.

Thirty-two other fishermen were rescued in rough waters off the eastern island of Catanduanes on Saturday, hours after their boat ran out of fuel at sea during the storm, local police said.

“Ambo’s” western fringes brushed past the country’s eastern section on Saturday, the state weather service said. The system had maximum winds of about 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour near the center.

It became a typhoon early Sunday with maximum winds of 120 kilometres an hour as it moved northwest in the general direction of southern Japan, the weather service added.