Typhoon Haiyan's death toll passes 6,000, with more bodies still being found every day

The typhoon has officially become the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the Philippines

Published December 13, 2013 2:20PM (EST)

Over a month since Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, the official death count stands at 6,009, the Associated Press reports, with 1,779 still accounted for.

The death count surpasses that of a 1991 tropical storm that killed over 5,000 people and was, until Haiyan, the Philippines' deadliest.

About 20 to 30 bodies are still being found each day, Maj. Reynaldo Balido, the spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told the AP. The challenge now, he said, is attempting to match the decomposing bodies with descriptions of the missing.

Meanwhile, the 16 million people whose homes were destroyed in the disaster are beginning to rebuild, a process that the officials expect will take at least three years.


By Lindsay Abrams

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Disaster Relief Natural Disaster Philippines Typhoon Haiyan