Super Typhoon Haiyan: '10,000 Could Be Dead'

At least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in the Philippine city of Tacloban by Typhoon Haiyan, officials believe.

A further 300 are confirmed dead with 2,000 missing in the neighbouring island of Samar.

Up to 4.3million people are said to have been directly affected by the typhoon's path and the death toll is expected to rise further as rescuers reach cut off areas.

If the death toll estimate by government officials is confirmed, it would be the deadliest natural catastrophe on record in the Philippines.

Coffins are left on a street

Up to 70-80% of homes have been destroyed in Tacloban and other areas in the typhoon's path, according to Justin Morgan of Oxfam.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas said: "From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometre inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami.

"I don't know how to describe what I saw. It's horrific."

Most of the dead are understood to have drowned or were crushed by collapsed buildings. Many corpses hung on tree branches, buildings and in the roads.

A fishing boat was picked up and deposited atop a sea of housing debris

"On the way to the airport we saw many bodies along the street," said Philippine-born Australian Mila Ward, 53, who was waiting at the Tacloban airport to catch a military flight back to Manila.

"They were covered with just anything - tarpaulin, roofing sheets, cardboards," she said. Asked how many, she said, "Well over 100 where we passed."

But the destruction extended well beyond Tacloban, a city of 200,000. Officials are yet to make contact with Guiuan, a town of 40,000 that was first hit by the typhoon.

A woman mourns next to the dead body of her husband and other corpses

Baco, a city of 35,000 people in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80 percent under water, the UN said.

The Philippines has limited resources on its own to deal with a disaster of this magnitude, say experts.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed the military's Pacific Command to deploy ships and aircraft to support search-and-rescue operations and airlift emergency supplies.

A boy carries away supplies he has collected from rescue workers

But the command is headquartered in Hawaii, with one carrier group currently in port in Hong Kong, so it is thought it will be some days before it reaches the affected area.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Philippine president Benigno Aquino: "We stand ready to contribute with urgent relief and assistance if so required in this hour of need."

Haiyan was one of the strongest tropical storms ever to have made landfall, lashing the Philippines with wind gusts of 275kph (170mph) and whipping up a storm surge which swallowed coastal towns and villages.

Residents beside a road littered with debris

Although the cyclone has weakened, there are fears that many could be affected when it next makes landfall in Vietnam later today.

Nearly a million people were evacuated from central provinces before the path of Haiyan turned further north.

It is now expected to be a category one typhoon, with winds gusting up to 95mph when it reaches the tourist area of Halong Bay, not far from the capital Hanoi, at about 8pm on Sunday.

A pregnant woman cooks a meal inside a building overlooking Tacloban

The typhoon is also expected to pass very close to the Chinese island of Hainan.

Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people south of Manila, bore the brunt of Haiyan in the Philippines. Bodies have been seen floating in roads covered with debris from fallen trees, tangled power lines and flattened homes.

"The dead are on the streets, they are in their houses, they are under the debris, they are everywhere," said Tecson John Lim, a Tacloban city administrator.

In Vietnam villagers are evacuated in preparation for the arrival of Haiyan

Among those feared dead is an Australian ex-priest Kevin Lee, who moved to the Philippines after blowing the whistle on abuse in the Catholic Church in his home country, it has been reported.

The previous deadliest disaster to hit the Philippines was in 1976, when a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people.

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