Philippines floods and landslides kill at least 16

Floods, landslides and accidents after nine days of heavy rain have killed at least 16 people in the northern Philippines, rescuers said Monday, with three people still unaccounted for in Baguio.

Seven of the deaths were in the mountain resort city, where city rescuer Esther Banawe told AFP that a rain-soaked mountainside collapsed on three houses. She said rescue work was continuing manually because of heavy rain and was being supervised because of the risk of further landslides.

A civil defence office tally said six other people were killed by landslides elsewhere on Luzon. One person drowned, one was hit by a falling tree and one was electrocuted, according to the tally.

The heavy rain, worsened by tropical storms, has closed schools and government offices across the main island of Luzon and flooded streets in Manila.

State weather forecaster Dan Villamil said Baguio recorded 1,413.2 millimetres of rain from August 1 to 9, 47 percent more than its typical August total of 963.2 millimetres. He said parts of Metro Manila had already received about 90 percent of a normal August's rain.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said Monday evening that floodwaters were receding, although heavy rain was still falling. He said flood-control work was continuing and referred to what he called years and decades of faulty flood mitigation measures.

The Philippines is often hit by storms and typhoons from the Pacific cyclone belt. Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.