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MANILA /Â AFP
The Philippine coast guard pressed its search on Tuesday for 18 crewmen from a cargo ship that sank at the height of Typhoon Nock-Ten, which struck the country on Christmas Day.
Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 14 other crewmen have been rescued and one died after the M/V Starlite Atlantic sank off Mabini town in Batangas province, where the powerful typhoon passed on Monday on its way out of the country into the South China Sea.
President Rodrigo Duterte flew to typhoon-hit provinces and warned in a speech in Camarines Sur that he’ll throw out of a helicopter anybody who would steal the financial aid he brought for storm survivors. “I’ve done that, why won’t I do it again?” Duterte said in a threat that won applause from typhoon survivors.
The Starlite Atlantic sought cover in an anchorage area as the typhoon passed and its crew decided to move to safer waters but encountered huge waves and fierce winds, causing their ship to sink, Balilo said, adding that another passenger and cargo ship ran aground in Mabini, south of Manila.
At least seven people died from the typhoon, including the sunken ship’s crewman and villagers who drowned from flooding or were pinned by fallen trees or a collapsed wall in Albay and Quezon provinces.