THE Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) disclosed that 76 people have died while 44 remain missing and feared dead due to the onslaught of Tropical Storm Vinta (Tembin).
The RDRRMC also reported that 65 others were injured as the storm battered the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay.
The three Zamboanga areas were among the 11 provinces in Mindanao the state weather bureau placed under storm warning signal number two when the storm Vinta entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
Chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula director, on Tuesday said that 15,520 families consisting of 75,893 individuals were listed to have been affected as of Tuesday.
Beltran said that Vinta battered a total of 139 villages in the three Zamboanga provinces with Zamboanga del Norte as the hardest hit area.
Beltran said the town of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte has the highest number of casualties with 14 dead, 58 injured and 25 missing.
He said search continues in a bid to locate the whereabouts of the 44 individuals who remained missing as of Tuesday, December 26.
He said they are from nine towns of Zamboanga del Norte and two municipalities of Zamboanga Sibugay.
He said the PRO-Zamboanga Peninsula units in coordination with the local government units and other government agencies have distributed relief goods to the affected families.