The number of people killed when a super typhoon devastated the Philippines has surpassed 5200, making it one of the country's deadliest natural disasters.
The official death toll from the storm jumped by nearly 1200 to 5209, with another 1611 people still missing, the spokesman for the government's disaster management council, Reynaldo Balido, told AFP on Friday.
Super Typhoon Haiyan flattened dozens of towns across the central Philippines on November 8, bringing some of the strongest winds ever recorded and generating tsunami-like storm surges.
Balido said the death toll rose sharply on Friday, increasing from 4015, after officials reported body counts from communities outside the worst-hit areas.
"If you notice, there was not much movement in the death toll for the past few days. This was because the reporting rules required a casualty report signed by the city mayor and his health officer," he said.
"Now, the reports are coming in from the entire typhoon area."
1.5 MN PHILIPPINE TYPHOON CHILDREN FACE MALNUTRITION: UN
Meanwhile, the United Nations warns that 1.5 million children are at risk of malnutrition in typhoon-ravaged areas of the Philippines and called for greater efforts to provide food and water.
A UN appeal to cope with Typhoon Haiyan has been increased from $301 to $348 million as the extent of the storm disaster becomes clearer.
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said the death toll, increased Friday to 5,200, would rise higher even as the spotlight turns away from the November 8 super typhoon.
"I am very concerned that some 1.5 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition and close to 800,000 pregnant and nursing mothers need nutritional help," Amos told a news conference at UN headquarters after a trip to the Philippines.
Amos said huge numbers of people are still exposed to bad weather in the nine provinces ravaged by the storm. An estimated four million people have been left homeless.
A huge international relief operation was launched after the storm, but Amos said: "Much more needs to be done. Food, clean water and shelter remain the top priorities."
The death toll has mounted as rescuers reach remote islands and areas hit by fierce winds and huge waves in one of the biggest storms ever recorded.
Amos said the storm had also left a major communications blackout. "People have little or no access to basic information through cell phones, internet and radio, TV or newspapers," she said.
Haiyan now stands as one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded in the country, and the worst typhoon.
The only other natural disaster to rival Haiyan was a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1976 that killed between 5000 and 8000 people on the southern island of Mindanao.
The latest disaster has triggered a giant, international relief effort, with dozens of countries and relief organisations rushing to deliver food, water and health services to isolated communities.
The US military has performed the highest-profile role, while Japan has sent more than 1000 troops in its biggest deployment since World War II.
China, which is embroiled in a long-running territorial dispute, has also sent a 300-bed hospital ship and relief supplies.
