Death toll from Philippines typhoon rises to 12

THE death toll from Typhoon Mitag has risen to 12 in the Philippines, as a search continued for a missing air force jet and a fishing vessel with 27 aboard.

The number of people displaced also jumped to nearly half a million from 19 provinces ravaged by flash floods and landslides triggered by the storm, the Office of Civil Defence said.

Mitag has weakened as it exited the Philippines towards the southern islands of Japan, but provinces in the north of Luzon island continued to be battered by strong winds and rains.

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