Red Cross asks for help for Manila typhoon victims

MANILA, Oct 6 (Reuters) Red Cross officials today asked the international community to donate food, medicine and relief materials for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos displaced by Typhoon Xangsane.

The storm swept through Manila and northern and central Philippines last week before slamming into the Vietnamese coastline leaving at least 169 dead with 79 others missing.

''This is simply not just another typhoon, the devastation is humongous,'' said Richard Gordon, a Philippine senator and head of the local Red Cross, adding about 1.2 million people in rural communities remained vulnerable to diseases.

The Red Cross said it would need more than 4.5 million dollars to provide food and other basic needs for 126,000 people staying at nearly 200 temporary shelter areas in central and northern Philippines.

The organisation put the death toll in the Philippines at 125 people with 41 still missing and presumed dead. Wide areas remained isolated and without power due to floods and landslides.

The government has said 110 people were killed and 72 were still missing after Xangsane left a trail of devastation estimated at 3.5 billion pesos (70 million dollars).

The Vietnamese government has said 59 people died and 7 were missing after the typhoon hit on Sunday but state-run media accounts indicated a higher death toll of at least 68, citing provincial disaster reports.

The storm's fierce winds and rain destroyed or damaged nearly 320,000 homes when it crashed into the central Vietnamese coastline.

The governments of Australia, France, the United Kingdom and United States have already donated cash, food and relief materials to help Filipinos affected by the typhoon, which weakened into a tropical storm and dissipated over Thailand.

REUTERS SHB BS1651