Death toll from Philippine floods, landslides climbs to 39

Four people died in the southern Philippines after being hit by a landslide, authorities said yesterday, taking the nationwide death toll from recent rains to at least 39.

Rescuers were still searching for more than two dozen other people missing after heavy downpours over the Christmas weekend caused flooding and landslides across central and southern regions.

The latest deaths happened Wednesday in Mati City in the province of Davao Oriental on Mindanao island when a landslide buried four people as they fished, the national disaster agency said.

Authorities recovered the bodies of the victims, who include two teenagers.

"There was a heavy downpour in the mountains. They were fishing in a river when the landslide occurred," Mati City police chief Ernesto Gregore told AFP.

The weather turned bad over the weekend as the disaster-prone nation of 110 million people prepared for a long Christmas holiday.

Hundreds of houses have since been destroyed and more than 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of crops wiped out by rains that have forced tens of thousands of people into evacuation centres, the national disaster agency said.