Philippines storm death toll climbs to 240, scores missing

MANILA AFP - The death toll from a storm that unleashed landslides and floods across the southern Philippines has climbed to 240 with scores of others still missing, officials said Monday.   

Tropical Storm Tembin on Friday struck the country’s main southern island of Mindanao, which often escapes the 20 or so storms that batter the rest of the archipelago nation each year.   

Civil defence officials said the number of confirmed deaths from Tembin on Mindanao’s Zamboanga peninsula had risen to 78, while the death toll in Lanao del Sur province on the island went up to 27.