China helps tourists caught in typhoon

BEIJING - China's embassy in the Philippines is in touch with Philippine airlines, asking them to accommodate stranded Chinese tourists and help them leave the country as soon as possible.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks at a daily news briefing on Monday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions in the Philippines are closely following the typhoon that ravaged the Philippines and providing  assistance to Chinese nationals there, Qin said. China's embassy in the Philippines fully understands the seriousness of the catastrophe and has checked multiple sources for news of Chinese casualties.

Qin confirmed there were no such reports so far.

The official death toll from super typhoon Haiyan, locally named "Yolanda," climbed to 255 with affected individuals ballooning to 9.7 million, a senior Philippine government official said Monday.

But local media quoted regional police chief Elmer Soria as saying an estimated 10,000 people in central Philippine province of Leyte might have been killed by the typhoon.