DPA/Manila
At least 73 people were killed in back-to-back tropical storms in the Philippines, including eastern provinces devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last year, the government said yesterday.
Tropical storm Kajiki, which made landfall on Friday night, battered the eastern and central regions, a week after a tropical depression locally called Agaton caused landslides and floods in the southern and eastern provinces.
Two people drowned and one was electrocuted in the provinces of Cebu and southern Leyte due to Kajiki, which blew out of the Philippines yesterday, the national disaster relief agency said.Seventy people were killed due to floods and landslides caused by Agaton, mostly in southern provinces, while nine were still missing, the agency added.
Dozens of domestic flights and sea travel were suspended due to Kajiki, stranding more than 5,000 passengers.
Nearly 18,000 were displaced by the two cyclones that affected 25 provinces, the agency said.
Among the affected provinces were Leyte and Samar provinces, which were badly hit by Typhoon Haiyan in November. More than 6,200 people were killed and more than 4mn displaced in the typhoon.