MANILA: The death toll from Tropical Storm Basyang has doubled to six and more than 5,000 people were displaced and are staying in evacuation centres. Three new fatalities were recorded in Cebu, according to a report by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday. The latest victims include Allan Cris Lisondra Degino, 14, of Samboan town who was buried in a landslide, while 65-year-old Anthony Garcia Collarte drowned in Bantayan and Vicente Paras Jayme, 5, of Compostela town, was electrocuted. Other fatalities reported previously were Cebu residents Jose Haji Aque Babatid, 22, who was electrocuted and Danny Tundag, 24, and Dionesio Paler, 66, who drowned in Southern Leyte. Five people were reported missing after a motorboat sank off Camotes Island. One of them was a 25-year-old Korean. NDRRMC said one-year-old Janice Bas Deiparine of Talisay City was injured after a fence collapsed on her. A total of 42,987 people were affected in 181 barangays in Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions. Of these, 5,646 people are at 32 evacuation centres.
240 supporters killed: Zia
DHAKA: Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia accused the government yesterday of “state terrorism,” saying more than 240 of her supporters were killed in four weeks that included last month’s controversial election. Zia, a two-time former premier who heads Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said security forces and ruling party activists were behind the killings and forced disappearance of her supporters. She said the incidents occurred between December 26 and January 27 and included arrest of 29,262 supporters. AGencies
