Typhoon Bopha death toll jumps to 239, hundreds missing in Philippines

THE death toll from a typhoon that ravaged the Philippines jumped to 239 with hundreds more missing, as rescuers battled to reach areas cut off by floods and mudslides.

Typhoon Bopha slammed into the southern island of Mindanao Tuesday, toppling trees and blowing away homes with 210-kilometre per hour gusts before easing and heading towards the South China Sea.

Cabinet members Mar Roxas and Corazon Soliman, who flew to the south to inspect the damage, described scenes of utter devastation with thousands of houses ripped apart and corpses lying on the ground.

"These are whole families, six or seven names with the same surnames. It is saddening to think entire families have been washed away," Interior Secretary Roxas said.

This photo provided by NASA and made from the International Space Station
 on Dec. 2 shows powerful Typhoon Bopha moving toward the Philippines.