‘Yolanda’ death toll continues to rise 4 months after disaster

‘YOLANDA’ SURVIVOR Melvin Castro sits in the rubble of his home in Tacloban City where 18 of his family members were killed. Four months later, he is still looking for answers. RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines – Over 120 days after Super Typhoon “Yolanda” wreaked havoc in the Visayas, more bodies were recovered as the death toll rose to 6,268.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, in its latest advisory, said 67 fatalities have been added from its last death toll in January with most deaths coming from the provinces of Leyte and Samar.

Of the 6,268, 23 unidentified individuals in Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Burauen, Carigara, Dagami, Dulag, and Matag-ob provinces of Leyte were added to the list of the dead.

The number of injured also increased by 63 to 28,689 while 724 individuals who were formerly recorded missing have been found.

To date, the deadly and destructive typhoon has affected 890,895 families or 4,095,280 individuals.

The disaster mitigation council said the total cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture remained at P39.8 billion.

Meanwhile, power supply has been restored in 155 out of 196 barangay (villages) in the municipalities of Palo and Babatngon and Tacloban City as of March 4.

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