国际英语新闻:Death toll in Philippine tropical storm tops 1,000

MANILA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from tropical storm Washi (local name Sendong) breached the 1,000 mark on Wednesday even as search and retrieval workers intensified their operations in Northern Mindanao, racing against time in recovering bodies in the sea.

As of 5 p.m., 1,002 people have been accounted to have died, the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director and Office of Civil Defense administrator Benito Ramos said.

In a phone interview from Cagayan de Oro City where he is supervising the operations, Ramos said 650 of the fatalities were retrieved in the city while 283 others were recovered in the second worst-hit Iligan City.

"The total (death toll) is 1,002 and still rising because the retrieval operations are continuing," said Ramos, adding the focus of the retrieval operations are concentrated in Macajalar Bay where the bodies are believed swept away.

Asked about the number of missing, Ramos said, "We are no longer making a count because even the local officials cannot give me an exact figure on how many are missing."

Ramos said at least 90 percent of the people who died from Sendong were retrieved from water.

On Tuesday, Ramos said three large ships from the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao had arrived in Cagayan de Oro City to help in the retrieval operations.