Today, the typhoon reached the South China Sea and could still hit the southern coast of China or Vietnam. Appeal of international organizations: 4.8 million dollars needed in aid to the victims. Approximately 170 thousand displaced people housed in shelters. UN: early warning saved lives. President Aquino: we must do more and better.

Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The death toll from Typhoon Bopha, which hit the Philippines on December 4, bringing death and destruction continues to rise. According to the latest data provided by the authorities at least 475 people have been killed, while hundreds are still missing. After sweeping the archipelago, Bopha has now reached the waters of the South China Sea, off the coast of the province of Palawan, and is heading to the south of China, or the coast of Vietnam. At the moment, at least 170 thousand people are housed in reception centers, but estimates remain provisional because the situation is constantly changing. UN experts point out that the early warnings - via phone calls, texts and TV - have saved many lives, but President Benigno Aquino has said that more must be done in the future.

The typhoon Bopha, renamed Pablo in the Philippines, struck the southern islands of the archipelago with winds up to 210 km / h on December 4, hitting Mindanao with particular intensity where it destroyed thousands of homes and uprooted trees. On the east coast rescuers have found a total of 258 corpses, a further 191 in New Bataan (Davao Region) and Monkayo, famous for its wealth of gold.

The head of the Philippine Civil Protection, Benito Ramos, has confirmed that the number of victims is rapidly increasing, with a toll that goes "from one to three digits." Rescuers continue to struggle to reach the most remote and isolated areas, where it is possible that there are other people dead or missing. The communication lines are interrupted, the expert adds, there is no electricity and roads and bridges have been destroyed.

Tues Roxas, the interior minister, on a visit yesterday in New Bataan, said that "entire families may have been swept away." Corazon Malanyaon, governor of Eastern Davao, spoke out about the problem of displaced persons who "do not know where to go" because "[The Typhoon] blew away the roofs of all the centres."

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent has launched an urgent appeal, asking for the allocation of at least 4.8 million dollars for emergency aid to the affected populations.

Every year, the Philippine archipelago is hit by the passage of at least 20 typhoons, some of them of a devastating nature. Bopha is the 16th to affect the Philippines in 2012. In August there were a hundred deaths and a million displaced by a series of violent storms. In 2011 there were 19 typhoons, 10 of high intensity: the death toll reached 1,500 mostly caused by Typhoon Washi (see AsiaNews 20/12/2011 Typhoon Washi, Manila declares a national emergency. First burials en masse).

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