Canadian climbers among nine killed.

Byline: Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief

Manila: Nine people were killed, including three Canadian mountain climbers, who had trekked to an overflowing crater of Mount Pinatubo, a volcano that erupted in central Luzon in 1991.

Continuous monsoon rains spawned by typhoon Morakot (locally known as Kiko) silted rivers, placed nearby villages and towns under water, and destroyed homes, roads, and bridges in central and northern Luzon, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said. A Canadian and one Filipino climber were found dead in a village in Capas, Tarlac, which was far from Mount Pinatubo.

Rescuers are still looking for two other missing Canadian trekkers. The tourists were all aboard a four-wheel drive truck that had fallen into the scenic basin of Mt Pinatubo during torrential monsoon rains on Thursday, NDCC said.

Rescuers, who were bought by helicopters of the Philippines Air Forces, found five Canadians and three South Koreans alive, following their distress call on Thursday, NDCC said.

Meanwhile, two more people - a husband and a wife - were killed in Botoloan in hard-hit Zambales. At the same time, three children were killed in landslides in Baguio City, northern Luzon, NDCC said.

Some 25,000 residents were affected by to landslides and floods.

Flood waters from the Zambales Range swelled Mt Pinatubo's crater and 10 nearby villages in Botolan, Zambales almost overnight after crack developed in a flood-control dike, NDCC said. Zambales Governor Amor Deloso declared a state of calamity in his province.

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