Mudslides, flash floods kill at least 53 in Philippines

31/12/2014 - 6:06

MANILA (Reuters) - Flash floods and mudslides have killed at least 53 people in the central and southern Philippines, the national disaster agency said on Wednesday, after days of heavy rains that have also hit neighbouring Southeast Asian countries.

Tropical storm Jangmi prompted the evacuation of more than 86,000 people in Surigao del Sur, Bohol and Cebu provinces before weakening into a tropical depression.

A powerful typhoon killed 18 people this month and forced more than 1 million people to flee to shelters in what a U.N. agency said was one of the world's biggest peacetime evacuations.

Malaysia's worst flooding in a decade forced nearly a quarter of a million people from their homes, officials said on Tuesday, with the government coming under renewed fire for its perceived slow response.

(Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; Editing by Nick Macfie)