More than 140 dead in the Philippines after the passage of Typhoon Kalmaegi

(AFP) Typhoon Kalmaegi left at least 140 dead and 127 are missing after triggering devastating floods in central Philippines, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country's Civil Defense office confirmed 114 reported deaths, although the figure does not include another 28 fatalities recorded by Cebu provincial authorities.

Flooding considered unprecedented hit villages and towns in Cebu this week, where it swept away vehicles, shantytowns and even huge shipping containers.

After leaving Philippine territory, Kalmaegi strengthened as it moves toward Vietnam, where it is feared to make landfall Thursday night.

In Liloan, a town near Cebu City where 35 bodies were recovered from flooded areas, AFP journalists saw cars piled on top of each other and roofs ripped off buildings whose residents were trying to remove mud.

A special-needs woman was one of the victims in Liloan, being trapped in her room when her house was flooded.

"We tried to open (her bedroom door) with a knife and a crowbar but it wouldn't budge. Then the refrigerator started floating," recounted Christine Aton, the victim's sister.

"I opened the window and my father and I swam out. We cried because we wanted to save my older sister," recounted the 29-year-old woman.

On the neighboring island of Negros, where at least 30 people died, rain caused by the typhoon triggered a landslide from a volcano that buried houses in Canlaon City, police Lt. Stephen Polinar told AFP.

This is a developing news story