Philippines relief chopper crashes as typhoon death toll stands at 19

ISTANBUL

A helicopter crashed on Tuesday in southern Philippines during a humanitarian and disaster relief mission as Typhoon Kalmaegi has so far left at least 26 people dead in the country.

The Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Col. Maria Christina Basco said that the Air Force helicopter was carrying five people on board, according to the initial reports, local daily The Inquirer reported.

The aircraft was part of a four-helicopter group that departed from Davao to Butuan to assess the damage caused by the typhoon.

Office of Civil Defense spokesman Junie Castillo said most of the deaths were reported in Central Visayas, two in Negros Island Region, and one in Eastern Visayas.

Around 387,000 people were preemptively evacuated due to the typhoon, according to Castillo.

A passenger vessel and a vehicle carrier ship also crashed into each other at a pier in Sulu’s provincial capital of Jolo due to the high waves brought by the typhoon.

Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, made two landfalls since early Tuesday in the central island of Visayas.

Tino is expected to leave the Philippine "area of responsibility," where the country's meteorological agency monitors weather occurrences, on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.