Massive clean-up in Hong Kong after typhoon chaos

Hong Kong began a massive clean-up Monday after Typhoon Mangkhut raked the city, shredding trees and bringing damaging floods, in a trail of destruction that left dozens dead in the Philippines and millions evacuated in southern China.

The death toll in the Philippines, where the main island of Luzon was mauled with fierce winds and rain, rose to 65 overnight as rescuers pulled more bodies from a huge landslide in the mountain town of Itogon. The landslide buried an emergency shelter which was being used by miners and their families in the town.

No-one has yet been pulled alive from the rubble and relatives of those buried are taking part in the rescue efforts, the town's mayor Victorio Palangdan told AFP. National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana said 43 other people are missing, and more than 155,000 people remain in evacuation centres two days after the typhoon struck.

Authorities there said they had evacuated more than three million people and ordered tens of thousands of fishing boats back to port before the arrival of what Chinese media had dubbed the “King of Storms”. In the high-rise city of Hong Kong, the government described the damage as “severe and extensive” with more than 300 people injured in Mangkhut, which triggered the maximum “T10” typhoon alert.

The monumental task of cleaning up the city began as residents, some in suits and ties, struggled to get back to work on roads that remained blocked by felled trees, mud and debris. Schools were closed, bus services halted, and travel disruption saw commuters piling onto platforms trying to board infrequent trains after trees fell on overhead lines.

-AFP