Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines Appeal Tops £30m

The public have donated more than £30m to the Philippines Typhoon Appeal in just three days, the Disasters Emergency Committee has said.

The DEC - which represents 14 UK charities - said the money would provide food, water, household items and tarpaulin to the thousands made homeless.

It said it was "working around the clock" to deliver the aid.

"We are so grateful to the people of the UK for their generosity to date," said DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed, who urged the public to continue to donate.

The donations come as the death toll from Typhoon Haiyan was revised up to 3,621, according to a top Philippine official.

The figure far exceeds an estimate by Philippine President Benigno Aquino, who this week predicted it would be closer to 2,500.

On Thursday, confirmed deaths nationwide stood at 2,357 after the November 8 disaster - one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded.

But Eduardo del Rosario, director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the new figure was the "latest death toll" from all the country's provinces.

The number of missing stands at 25,000, according to the Red Cross .

Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez said some victims may have been swept out to sea after a tsunami-like wall of seawater up to 30ft (9m) high slammed into coastal areas.

The city is continuing to bury scores of unidentified victims in a mass grave the size of an Olympic swimming pool at its hillside cemetery.

Mr Aquino said initial estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated by "emotional trauma".

The president is facing pressure to speed up the distribution of aid.

Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the relief effort, which has been hindered by looting, a lack of fuel for rescue vehicles and debris-choked roads.

International help is now under way, with the USS George Washington aircraft carrier starting to fly food, water and medical teams to the ravaged islands.

An RAF cargo plane left the UK on Friday, while HMS Illustrious is expected to arrive in the country around November 25.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has said people have been "let down" by the Philippine government's slow response.

Hundreds of shell-shocked survivors from Tacloban - carrying any possessions they have managed to retrieve - are waiting for ferries to leave devastated Leyte island.

Sky News' Mark Stone, at the Ormoc City ferry terminal, says most have "nothing but the clothes on their back" and have no idea what to do.

On Bantayan Island, 60 miles to the west, the situation is also desperate - the international relief effort has yet to reach the area and aid supplies are woefully short.

Glenda Despesemento, in charge of a relief centre at a school, told Sky News that food, medicine and clothes were urgently needed.

Water supplies have also been destroyed and families - sheltering together in classrooms - are having to boil water from a well and share it between them.

"These rooms, I think 57 families stay here from one week until now," said Ms Despesemento.

"We need help - we need help from any country."

At least 600,000 people are thought to have been displaced by the typhoon, one of the most powerful ever to hit land with winds of over 195mph and a powerful storm surge.