© Reuters/Erik De CastroA pregnant woman, who survived flooding, holds her child on a stretcher while being evacuated in New Bataan town in Compostela Valley in southern Philippines December 6, 2012.
New Bataan - Rescue workers searched on Thursday through thick mud, broken homes and fallen trees for survivors, two days after a typhoon swept the southern Philippines killing nearly 400 people and leaving at least as many missing.
Typhoon Bopha, with central winds of up to 120 kph (74 mph) and gusts of up to 150 kph (93 mph), was moving west-northwest of the central Philippines after ravaging the resource-rich island of Mindanao.
The National Disaster Agency put the death toll at 379 after Bopha triggered landslides and floods along the coast and in farming and mining towns inland in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. The death toll is expected to rise.
Arturo "Arthur" Uy, governor of Compostela Valley, the worst-hit area, said estimates showed 200 had died and almost 600 remained missing in his province alone, higher than the agency's tally.
"This is the first time a typhoon with signal number three has crossed our province," he said. "We evacuated people from riverbanks and shorelines. But the floods and strong winds battered not just the riverbanks but also places where residents were supposed to be safe."
About 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, often causing death and destruction. Almost exactly a year ago, Typhoon Washi killed 1,500 people in Mindanao, but most storms make landfall further north.
