NDCC: Igme toll rises to 4 dead, 2 hurt, 5 missing

MANILA, Philippines - Four people died, two were injured and five others remain missing due to typhoon "Igme" which battered the northern Luzon provinces, particularly the Cordillera Administrative Region and Ilocos region, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said late on Monday. In its bulletin, NDCC identified the fatalities as: three-year-old Dale Malaggay, Ismael Gayban, 12-year-old Anna Balweg, all of Abra, and Loreto Biadad of Ilocos Norte. Those injured were Bilis Balweg and Danilo Prio while those wer remain missing were identified as Gemma Gonnawa Mallagay, Jimmy Biala, Edwin Montemayor, Erick dela Cruz and Roger Viloria. The NDCC said the three-year-old fatality died after being swept by raging waters while he was crossing the river with his mother who has yet to be located by authorities. It added that Biadad also died of drowning but did not give details. Gayban, on the other hand, was killed after getting buried in a landslide while Balweg succumbed after getting hit by a lighting. As of posting time, the NDCC said at least 2,082 families or 9,900 persons from Ilocos region were affected by the typhoon. In Abra, 89 families or 445 persons were affected, 25 families (125 persons) are staying in evacuation centers. Some parts of Bacara town, also in Ilocos Norte, have been submerged with three-feet flooding following the release of water from the Vintar Dam, the NDCC said. A number of thoroughfares in the province have been also declared not passable to vehicles also due to flooding, including the Quirino-San Emilio-Cervantes road, it added. A province-wide black-out occurred in Abra “due to technical problems" encountered by the National Transmission Corp. but electricity was later restored in affected areas. - GMANews.TV