MANILA - The National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Thursday that a sudden rise in fatalities due to Tropical Storm Agaton was caused by a reporting error.

NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo that the official number of fatalities due to Agaton was still at 178. The agency earlier reported that the number had climbed to 224.

Timbal explained that data on the number of bodies found was also included in the agency's latest report, even though some bodies lacked proper documentation.

"Dapat po bago talaga officially ma-count ito as casualty, ay dapat may documentation kagaya ng pagkaka-kilanlan, gender, et cetera. Mukhang ang na-receive pa lang po pala, finoward sa amin ay ang datos pa lang ng bilang ng bangkay," Timbal said.

But he added that the death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are processed and recovered during search and rescue operations.

According to Timbal, the number of people injured during the storm is still at 8, while there are still 111 people reported as missing. The NDRRMC spokesman said 104 of these were missing following landslides in Leyte triggered by Agaton.

Earlier in the day, search and retrieval operations in landslide-hit Abuyog, Leyte were suspended because the ground in the area had become too unstable due to mud.

But Timbal said that search and rescue operations were still ongoing in several unspecified areas in Leyte.

• READ: Retrieval ops sa landslide sa Abuyog, Leyte sinuspinde
• READ: Nasawi sa Bagyong Agaton sa Baybay, Leyte umabot na sa 126
• READ: Comelec to set up makeshift polling centers in areas devastated by Agaton

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