ZAMBOANGA CITY — Rescue teams have continued the search for the remaining 44 people missing in rampaging flood spawned by the Tropical Storm Vinta in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Chief Supt. Billy Beltran, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, on Tuesday said they were among the 74,893 people affected by the onslaught of the storm in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay.
The three areas were among the 11 Mindanao provinces placed under storm warning signal number two by the state weather bureau when Tropical Storm Vinta entered last Saturday into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
Beltran said the 44 missing persons are from nine towns of Zamboanga del Norte and two municipalities of Zamboanga Sibugay that were inundated by rampaging flood.
Beltran said 76 people were confirmed dead and 65 injured as of Tuesday, December 26, based on the report of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
He added that the Tropical Storm Vinta has affected 139 barangays and caused displacement to 15,520 families consisting of 75,893 individuals.
The municipality of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte , he said, was the hardest hit area and has the highest number of casualties with 14 dead, 58 injured and 25 missing.
He said the PRO-9 units in coordination with the local government units and and other government agencies have distributed relief goods to the affected 15, 520 families. (PNA)
