Philippines halts search for dead as it prepares for new storm

Rescue work was suspended and preemptive evacuations began on Saturday as Typhoon Fung-wong bore down on the Philippines, days after another storm killed at least 204 people.

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Across the country, Kalmaegi left at least 204 people dead and 109 missing, the Philippines Office of Civil Defence said, and more than half a million people were displaced. Nearly 450,000 were evacuated to shelters, and nearly 400,000 remained in evacuation centres or homes of relatives as of Saturday.

Fung-wong, expected to be a "super typhoon" before making landfall, bears a huge footprint, with a radius that could cover "almost the entire country," a government meteorologist said.

"Apart from the strong winds, we can also expect heavy rains ... 200 millimetres (eight inches) or higher rainfall, which can cause widespread flooding, not just in low-lying areas," meteorologist Benison Estareja told a press briefing on Saturday. "It's also possible that our major river basins will overflow."

As of II am (0300 GMT), the typhoon was moving westward toward the Philippines' main island of Luzon, with wind speeds of 140 kilometres per hour and gusts of 170 kph.