Death toll in Philippine flash floods rises to 521

The Philippine Red Cross says the death toll from storm-triggered flash floods that devastated a wide swath of the country's south has risen to 521.

The Philippine Red Cross says the death toll from storm-triggered flash floods that devastated a wide swath of the country's south has risen to 521.

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Philippine Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang on Sunday said that the death toll would most likely rise, with 458 people still missing and many villages remaining isolated and unreached by overwhelmed disaster-response personnel.

Pang says the hardest-hit cities were Cagayan de Oro city, where at least 239 people died, and nearby Iligan, where Red Cross aid workers reported 195 dead, mostly children and women.

Tropical Storm Washi started to blow away toward the South China Sea on Sunday, allowing the weather to clear and disaster-response contingents to intensify search-and-rescue work.