Typhoon Bebinca kills at least 17 in Manila

Schools, government offices and many shops and banks were closed. The typhoon, packing winds of up to 150 kph (95 mph), was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Manila at midday Friday and was moving at 19 kph (12 mph) toward southern China. It was expected to gain strength as it moved across the South China Sea, the weather bureau said.

Among the fatalities were four mountain climbers who drowned while trying to cross a swollen river in Laguna province, provincial Gov. Joey Lina said. Lina said the victims were part of a group of more than 100 climbers still trapped by the river. He said soldiers and police had been sent to rescue the group.

Three people, including two children, were killed in a landslide and two others drowned in a river in Siniloan town, he said. Three others were reported missing after a motorcycle taxi they were riding fell into a river when the bridge they were crossing collapsed, Lina said.

Four other people drowned in Cagayan province and also another in Nueva Vizcaya. Landslides also killed one person in Isabela province and another in Nueva Vizcaya, all on the main Philippine island of Luzon.

In suburban Marikina City, one man was killed when a small radio transmitter tower collapsed on his home, impaling him and injuring his 8-year-old daughter, radio reports said.

The office of civil defense said more than 1,100 people were evacuated because of flooding in suburban Taguig and four provinces east of Manila. Another 1,300 commuters were stranded at a port in Matnog in Sorsogon province southeast of Manila because ferries were not allowed to leave port.

Powerful winds and big waves slammed at least seven barges into a seawall along Manila Bay. The typhoon also forced the diversion of several Philippine Airlines flights to the central Philippines. Bebinca arrived a week after Typhoon Xangsane swept through the northern Philippines and left 40 people dead, 249 injured and 66 missing.

(AP)