Typhoon Rammasun kills 27 in Philippines

The death toll from the first typhoon of the Philippines' rainy season climbed to at least 27 on Thursday, authorities said, as millions in the capital and elsewhere endured a second day without power. As Typhoon Rammasun moved further towards southern China, streets across Manila remained littered with fallen trees, branches and electrical posts while repairmen struggled to restore power services. The head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Alexander Pama, said that his agency had confirmed 20 fatalities as of late Wednesday, but he expected the death toll to rise with more reports coming in. "Most of the deaths were hit by falling trees, primarily by debris," Pama told ABS-CBN television. The council listed five people missing and seven injured. Governors of provinces outside Manila said they had recorded seven other deaths not yet on the council's total. The typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Tuesday before crossing over the main island of Luzon and then moving westward out to the South China Sea by the middle of Wednesday.