Rescuers search for dozens missing after Philippine storm

MANILA - A tropical storm which battered the Philippines on Saturday has left at least 26 people dead and 46 others missing, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

Romina Marasigan of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a news conference that most of the people died in at least 17 landslides that hit Biliran, Leyte, Eastern Samar and Sama provinces in the central Philippines, triggered by tropical storm Kai-Tak.

"The causes of deaths were mostly from landslides and drowning," she said, adding that some of the missing people were from Romblon, a province which is also in the central Philippines.