Philippine troops search for fishermen after typhoon

Troops on Thursday scoured jagged coastlines on the Philippines\' eastern seaboard in search of dozens of fishermen who went missing after a typhoon that killed 23 people.

Using rubber boats and small fishing vessels, hundreds of soldiers raced against time to look for the 59 fishermen amid fears those still alive could succumb to hypothermia, regional military spokesman Major Harold Cabunoc said.

"We are still hoping we would get some of them alive. Some of them could just be stranded in small islands," Cabunoc told AFP.

Cabunoc said troops found eight other fishermen reported missing off the eastern island of Camarines Sur on Wednesday, but a ninth who survived with the group after their small vessel capsized died from the cold.

The fisherman was among 23 people who have so far been confirmed killed from Typhoon Conson, which slammed into Manila and other parts of the Philippines\' main island of Luzon on Wednesday morning.

The Philippines is in the so-called typhoon belt of the Pacific. Up to 20 typhoons sweep through the country each year, killing hundreds of people.

But the ferocity of Conson, which was the first typhoon of the season, took many people in Manila by surprise after the state weather service said it would only strike provinces to the north of the capital.

Conson destroyed shanty towns on the outskirts of Manila and knocked out power for nearly all of the capital on Wednesday, bringing the city to a virtual standstill.

Millions of people remained without power on Thursday after electricity for nearly the whole of Luzon was cut off because of the storm.

Power officials said electricity supplies for those who could get access would be rationed and called on the public to conserve energy.

"We have to ration off supply. There will be three-hour rotational brownouts," Dina Lomotan, a spokeswoman for Manila Electric, which distributes power to Manila and nearby provinces, said over DZBB radio.

Telephone networks that were also brought down by the typhoon also remained patchy on Thursday.

The government said schools had reopened after being forced to close on Wednesday, but many private schools remained closed because of continuing power outages.

As of Thursday morning, the government weather station charted Conson as still moving northwest into the South China Sea, towards southern China.