All Kuwaiti citizens safe and sound in typhoon-hit Philippines

All Kuwaiti citizens in the Philippines are safe and sound in the aftermath of the super typhoon Haiyan which struck central Philippines yesterday, said Kuwaiti ambassador to that country Waleed Al-Kanderi, in statements he made to KUNA on Saturday. "The embassy is constantly in contact with the officials in the Philippines to ascertain if any Kuwaiti citizen has been harmed in the areas most affected by the super typhoon," said the ambassador, noting that one of the worst cities taking the brunt of the storm is Tacluban where a lot of people died, perhaps due to the difficulty of relief aid reaching them and the power outages affecting the city. He appealed to Kuwaiti citizens currently in the Philippines or those who wish to visit that country at this time to contact the Kuwaiti embassy there for their own safety and well-being. Haiyan is one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall in the Philippines, killing so far more than 1,000 people in one city alone and 200 in another province, the Red Cross estimated on Saturday, as reports of high casualties began to emerge. Haiyan is the second category 5 typhoon to hit the Philippines this year after Typhoon Usagi in September. An average of 20 typhoons strike every year, and Haiyan is the 24th so far this year.