714 'Pablo' deaths; search continues for 890 more

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 714 people have been confirmed killed and nearly 900 more remained missing as search and rescue efforts continue in areas devastated by typhoon Pablo.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that on Tuesday morning that a total of 663 have been killed in Davao region, including 336 in Davao Oriental province and 327 in Compostela Valley provinces.

Of the 714 confirmed fatalities, only 257 have been identified, the NDRRMC said.

The agency said that a total of 890 people remained missing and 1,906 people were injured during the onslaught of Pablo.

It added that a total of 25,812 families or 116,404 persons are still staying in evacuation centers. It said that nearly 5.5 million people or 486,554 families were affected by the typhoon in nine regions.

A total of 114,583 houses were reported damaged in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and 43,992 of the number are totally damaged.

The NDRRMC also said that according to the Department of Agriculture, a total of 26,160 hectares of crops were damaged by the typhoon in 18 provinces in Eastern Mindanao, Western Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN, Caraga and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The agency pegged the typhoon's damage to agriculture and infrastructure at P7.116 billion (P3,618,868,247.07 in agriculture and P3,479,131,300 in infrastructure).

President Aquino had declared a state of national calamity in 50 provinces, towns and cities in Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao region and Caraga.