Typhoon Mangkhut Slams Philippines, Killing At Least 12

Typhoon Mangkhut struck the island of Luzon in the Northern Philippines early Saturday as the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, killing at least 12 people.

According to officials, the fatalities resulted primarily in landslides and houses that got pummeled by the storm's fierce winds and rain.

Presidential adviser Francis Tolentino says the dead included an infant and another child who were among four people killed in a landslide in Nueva Vizcaya, one of several provinces battered by the typhoon on Saturday.
Tolentino says that at least two other people are missing and that the death toll could climb to 16 once other casualty reports are verified.
He says about 87,000 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas and advised not to return home until the danger has passed.
The most powerful typhoon to hit the disaster-prone Philippines this year slammed ashore before dawn in Cagayan province on the northeastern tip of Luzon island, a breadbasket that is also a region of flood-prone rice plains and mountain provinces with a history of deadly landslides.
China and the Philippines agreed to postpone a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that was to start Sunday due to the onslaught, which caused nearly 150 flights, a third of them international, to be canceled and halted sea travel.
Marcella Rucker