RESCUERS raced Saturday to reach people still stranded in areas cut off by flooding from Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami), which has displaced nearly half a million people and killed at least 87, including 43 from Batangas province.

Provincial officials said 18 of those deaths came from the village of Sampaloc in Talisay town, who were reported to have perished in a landslide Friday night. Batangas provincial police office director Col. Jack Malinao confirmed the retrieval of the 18 victims from the site of the landslide, including 12 children.