Dead bodies from Typhoon Haiyan lie scattered on the streets of the Philippines

More than 100 people are believed to have died in just one city as the world's most powerful typhoon, Haiyan, battered the Philippines. The full extent of the damage is expected to become clearer today as the storm passes.

People on the central island of Bacalod, Philippines, during Typhoon Haiyan. Photo: AFP

AFP quoted Mr. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, as saying that the above information was reported by the airport manager in the central city of Tacloban in a phone call to the executive headquarters in Manila today.

He described "more than 100 dead people lying on the streets, with more than 100 others injured" in the city where the storm's eye passed.

With power lines and communications systems in the central region still down a day after the storm made landfall, Mr. Andrew said the information was "credible."

"According to the manager, the airport was completely destroyed," he added.

Tacloban is the capital of Leyte province, a large island of about two million people, where super typhoon Haiyan made landfall yesterday morning at its strongest.

Philippine television network GMA reported that both Tacloban and the nearby town of Palo were devastated. A reporter for the channel described seeing at least 31 bodies, including 20 at Palo Church. Philippine authorities are rushing rescue and communication equipment to the island.

Five people were also confirmed dead elsewhere in the central Philippines.

Today, as the storm passes, the toll from the world's most powerful storm this year is expected to be measured. The damage is expected to be huge.

Typhoon Haiyan, with winds of up to 315 km/h, is recorded as the world's strongest storm this year. Nearly 750,000 people in the Philippines have been forced to evacuate.

Haiyan is still moving rapidly towards the East Sea and is expected to approach Vietnam's mainland early tomorrow morning.

According to VnExpress