MANILA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed in a rain-induced landslide in Sorsogon province, southeast of the Philippine capital, on Saturday as tropical storm Nokaen, locally named Ada, battered large parts of the country, police said.
Police identified the victims as a 22-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman who were asleep when the landslide struck their home in the coastal town of Matnog shortly before 1 a.m. local time.
Authorities said debris from a landslide behind the house slammed into the structure, causing it to collapse and trapping the two victims under the rubble. Their bodies were recovered more than five hours later. Five other residents of the house survived.
Heavy rains from Nokaen, the first tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, have left many areas flooded and triggered landslides in several provinces.
The Philippines, an archipelago in Southeast Asia, averages about 20 typhoons each year, some of which are highly destructive. ■