Terrified residents fled their homes after a mudslide battered their village in the Philippines.

Heavy rain caused torrents of muddy water to flow down the mountainside in Zamboanga Sibugay province on May 15.

Terrified villagers grabbed their valuables and fled their homes during the deluge.

Donel Sarigo said: ‘I don’t know where to start because our homes have been badly damaged. We experienced a severe thunderstorm a few hours before the ground collapsed and several houses were swept away. There was heavy rain all day and night.’

The Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Malaysia are at the start of their tropical monsoon rainy season. Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain, strong wind and flash floods.