Pope promises to support Philippine disaster aid workers

Typhoon Vamco killed at least 67 people and submerged several areas of capital Manila

Pope promises to support Philippine disaster aid workers

Pope Francis has offered support to those working to help the thousands of poor people affected by Typhoon Vamco in the Philippines while praying for those killed in the disaster.

Typhoon Vamco, the deadliest of the two typhoons to hit the Philippines within a fortnight, killed at least 67 people and submerged several areas of capital Manila.

The typhoon made landfall on Nov. 11 midnight in the Quezon area, causing the worst flooding in more than four decades. It submerged thousands of houses, displacing or rendering homeless close to million people poor people.

“I express my solidarity with the poorest families who are also the most vulnerable to this calamity,” Pope Francis said while speaking after his Sunday Angelus prayer.

Pope said six cyclones hit the Philippines in a span of just four weeks, including Typhoon Vamco and Super Typhoon Goni, the world’s most powerful this year.

Pope Francis also offered to support those working to help the poor.

Caritas Philippines has appealed to the government to seek international aid to help the victims.

Pope Francis also recalled a tragic fire on Nov. 14 in a hospital in Romania where patients affected by coronavirus were being treated.

“I express my closeness and pray for the victims,” he said, asking those present to join him in prayer, Vatican News reported.

The fire in northeastern Romania killed 10 people and injured 10 others, seven of them critically. Officials said the blaze spread through the intensive care ward designated for Covid-19 patients at the public hospital in the city of Piatra Neamt.

According to published records, Romania has registered over 350,000 infections and almost 9,000 deaths, making it one of the 20 countries with the highest mortality rates in the world.