Philippine officials: death toll up slightly
Nov 15, 2013, 12:32 AM
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Authorities in the Philippines say the official death toll from the typhoon has risen by three to 2,360.
The spokesman for the country’s civil defense agency, Maj. Reynaldo Balido, confirmed the figure early Friday, hours after the United Nations issued conflicting reports on how many people had died.
In a briefing Thursday at U.N. headquarters in New York, Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq said the latest count was 4,460 people killed, and that the figure came from officials in the Philippines.
He then appeared to reverse himself before going back to his original statement of 4,460 dead, which he said was correct.
Given the confusion, the AP waited to confirm the toll directly with Philippine officials.
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