Philippines' typhoon toll reaches 81 amid rescue efforts
Manila, Sep 19: Philippines authorities on Wednesday raised the death toll to 81 and the number of missing to 70 following typhoon Mangkhut's path through the country's north where rescuers continue searching for dozens of people trapped in a mine buried by a landslide.
The strongest typhoon of the season swept the north of the island of Luzon on Saturday. The number affected by the typhoon now exceeds one million, Efe news reported.
Out of those missing, 66 were registered in the Cordillera region where the mining town of Itogon, Benguet province, is located. There, at least 39 deaths were confirmed at a mine amid the ongoing rescue efforts.
In Itogon, floods and landslides caused by Mangkhut also buried an area with gold mining sites and several makeshift shelters where some miners and their families lived illegally.
At least 200 people, including experts and volunteers, have been working since Sunday to rescue those trapped and as of Tuesday night had recovered 19 bodies by digging with picks and shovels in the mud as heavy machinery could not reach the area.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, 148,400 people were being helped inside and outside evacuation centres.
Authorities estimated that most of these people will have to stay at least three more weeks in the centres, where hygiene, sanitation and drinking water conditions were becoming increasingly precarious, according to the Red Cross.
"In this first intervention, our priority is to guarantee water and sanitation to the affected population, and later we will focus on the economic security of the families," said the head of Red Cross' Spain delegation in the Philippines, Luis Carrasco.
Red Cross teams were planning to deploy water treatment plants in Benguet as they could not manage to reach further north. "As we go north and find water points, we will install more treatment plants," Carrasco said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
