MANILA: The death toll from a tropical storm that pummelled the central Philippines rose to 43 with hopes fading for dozens of others still missing after massive landslides, authorities said Tuesday.
Slow-moving Kai-Tak finally swept out to the South China Sea on Monday after inducing days of heavy rain that led to deadly floods and landslides as it sliced across the central islands last weekend.
The government’s disaster monitoring agency listed 43 dead in an updated tally and said 45 other people were still missing, many of them feared buried by mud avalanches that struck the small island of Biliran.
“The retrieval operations are still ongoing but we are not finding anyone alive. We only find dead bodies,” Sofronio Dacillo, a disaster monitoring officer, told AFP by telephone from Biliran.
“We still have not given up hope of finding someone alive but the chances are slim.”
Bulldozers continued to dig for survivors in houses buried by landslides on Biliran, located about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Manila. The island accounted for 30 of the 43 deaths, with 31 residents missing, authorities said.
The storm’s slow movement caused large volumes of rain to fall on the central Philippines, government weather forecaster Jun Galang told AFP.
“It stayed almost stationary so it dumped a lot of rain and caused a lot of landslides which caused many deaths,” Galang said.
About half of the more than 100,000 people who fled their homes remained inside evacuation centers this week, the government said.
As rescue efforts continued, Philippine authorities monitored another low-pressure area in the Pacific Ocean that the state weather service said could develop into a storm and strike the archipelago over the Christmas weekend.
The Philippines is battered by 20 major storms each year on average, many of them deadly.
Philippine storm toll rises to 43 as hopes fade for dozens missing
Philippine storm toll rises to 43 as hopes fade for dozens missing
Italy protests, recalls ambassador to Switzerland after New Year’s bar fire suspect released
- Meloni overnight called Moretti’s release “an affront to the memory of the victims”
- Six of those killed in the bar blaze were Italian as were 10 of the injured
ROME: Italy formally protested on Saturday the release on bail of the owner of a Swiss bar engulfed in a deadly New Year’s Day fire and recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, as the court’s decision came under criticism in both countries.
Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica, owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes linked to the blaze that killed 40 people and injured more than 100, many of them teenagers.
Jacques Moretti was detained on January 9 but released on bail on Friday.
PM MELONI CALLS DECISION ‘AN INSULT’ TO VICTIMS’ FAMILIES
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni overnight called Moretti’s release “an affront to the memory of the victims ... and an insult to their families.”
Six of those killed in the bar blaze were Italian as were 10 of the injured.
A government statement on Saturday said Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instructed Italy’s ambassador to immediately contact Beatrice Pilloud, the chief prosecutor in Switzerland’s Valais canton, to convey Italy’s “strong indignation” over Moretti’s release.
It added that the court had taken the decision despite the seriousness of the alleged crime, the risk of flight and the possibility of evidence being compromised.
“The whole of Italy is clamouring for truth and justice, and is calling for respectful measures to be taken in the wake of this disaster, which take full account of the suffering and expectations of the families,” the statement said.
Meloni and Tajani also ordered Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado to return to Rome to determine what further action to take, it said.
Swiss prosecutor Pilloud confirmed to Swiss news agency Keystone SDA that she had been contacted by the Italian ambassador but explained that a separate court had ordered Moretti’s release.
“I do not wish to be responsible for a diplomatic incident between our two countries. I will not give in to any possible pressure from the Italian authorities, which is why I advised the ambassador to address himself to the Swiss political authorities,” she said.
A Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
’ANOTHER SLAP’, TEEN VICTIM’S FATHER SAYS OF RELEASE
Moretti was released under a bail arrangement that included a 200,000 Swiss franc ($256,377) payment and an order to report daily to a police station.
Lawyers for the victims of the fire and their families said they were struggling to understand the court order, adding that their clients were concerned about evidence disappearing.
“It is another slap on a wound that will never heal,” Andrea Costanzo, whose 16-year-old daughter Chiara died in the fire, said in comments published in Italian newspapers on Saturday.
The Morettis have both expressed grief over the tragedy and said they would cooperate with prosecutors.
In a statement following Jacques Moretti’s release, their lawyers said they would “continue to comply with all requests from the authorities.”
