Super Typhoon Goni batters Philippines, one million evacuated

A super typhoon has barrelled into the eastern Philippines bringing “catastrophic” winds and intense rains as about a million people were evacuated in its projected path including in the capital, Manila, where the main international airport was ordered closed.

Officials said at least seven people had been killed. Governor Al Francis Bichara said four people died in his hard-hit province of Albay, including a father and son who were in a rural community hit by mudflows and boulders swept down from Mayon Volcano by heavy rains.

Villagers fled to safety as the typhoon approached, but the two apparently stayed put, he said.

“The child was found 15km ( nine miles) away,” Bichara told DZMM radio.

Three other villagers, including one pinned down by a tree, were killed in Albay, the Office of Civil Defense said.

One of the most powerful typhoons in the world this year, Goni has evoked memories of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which left more than 7,300 people dead and missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than five million in the central Philippines.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan reports from Manila.

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