2 killed, thousands displaced as typhoon churns off Philippines

Two people were killed and thousands forced to flee their homes as a powerful typhoon churned off the Philippines' east coast, the Office of Civil Defence said Tuesday. Typhoon Jelawat, packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometresper hour (kph) and gusts of up to 230 kph, dumped heavy rains over an 800-kilometre-wide area, the weather bureau said. A 5-year-old boy died when he was hit by a falling tree in the southern city of Zamboanga, while a 31-year-old man died after he was struck by lightning in the central city of Bogo, the civil defence office said. In the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte, some 2,000 residents evacuated when flood waters reached nearly 1 metre. Some roads were also closed due to landslides, the army said.