Typhoon kills three, displaces nearly 8,000 in Philippines

Fishermen try to tow clusters of bamboo poles used as fished pens which were washed in shallow waters off Manila along with a cargo ship in background on Monday, in Manila, Philippines. Typhoon Kalmaegi, with sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (81 miles per hour) and gusts of 160 kph (99 mph), blew into the boundary of Cagayan and Isabela provinces in northern Philippines.

Typhoon Kalmaegi killed three people and displaced nearly 8,000 people as it battered the northern Philippines on the weekend, the national disaster relief agency said on Monday.

More than a dozen ferry trips and nearly 50 domestic flights were cancelled as the storm hit on Sunday, cutting off electricity in eight northern provinces.

Kalmaegi was packing maximum winds of 120 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph, the weather bureau said.

Schools were closed in Manila and northern provinces.

A >ferry sank on Saturday evening in rough seas off the eastern province of Leyte, killing three people, the national disaster relief agency said.

Rescuers saved 113 people from the boat that was en route to the southern city of Surigao.

In Manila, 15 crew members were rescued from a docked vessel that capsized after being battered by strong winds and big waves on Sunday evening, the Office of Civil Defense.

Kalmaegi left some roads and bridges impassable in the northern Philippines, as floodwaters reached as high as 20 metres in the affected areas, officials said.

The weather bureau said the typhoon, which blew out of the Philippines on Monday, would bring more trailing rains to the northern provinces, while the seas would continue to be rough.