Mass graves for flood victims

A mass burial was being organised in the Philippines today for hundreds of people killed by flash floods.

Mortuaries were overwhelmed after al-most 684 died when Typhoon Washi hit the southern island of Mindanao. Some 800 people are missing.

The cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro bore the brunt and officials say they must bury unclaimed bodies in a mass grave to prevent disease, with funeral parlours no longer taking bodies. Iligan mayor Lawrence Cruz said: "They are decomposing.

There is nowhere we can place them." He said 279 dead were piled outside morgues, which had run out of coffins: "We're using plastic bags, whatever is available."

But people in Cagayan de Oro are resisting mass burials and want bodies interned until relatives claim them. One funeral parlour was said to have left about 30 bodies in a rubbish dump, sparking protests. Saturday's floods left 45,000 homeless and many dependent on food aid.