After heavy rains in the Philippines, the death toll has risen to at least 39. The civil protection authority announced today that a landslide in the town of Mati, on the island of Mindanao, killed four people who were fishing together in a river. Two teenagers were among the dead.
The Philippines has been hit by heavy rains since Christmas, which have also led to devastating flooding. Floods and landslides have killed at least 16 people in Misamis Occidental province in Mindanao alone, and rescue teams are still looking for more than two dozen people missing today. The masses of water and mud also destroyed hundreds of homes. According to civil protection, tens of thousands of people are still housed in emergency shelters.
The Philippines, with its 110 million inhabitants, is one of the countries most affected by the effects of the climate crisis. According to scientists, storms and heavy rainfall in the western Pacific island nation are increasing in intensity and frequency as a result of global warming.