Four schoolchildren drowned in Iloilo City and a fifth person was reported missing as they crossed a swollen river amid heavy rain brought by an approaching tropical storm, rescuers said yesterday.

Two 15-year-old boys, another one aged seven and a seven-year-old girl were caught by strong currents and drowned crossing the Nagpana river Monday on the central island of Panay, the civil defense office in Iloilo city said.

The fifth person, a female of unspecified age, was swept away and remained missing yesterday, it said in a written report.

The river had swelled with heavy rains dumped by an approaching tropical depression, state weather forecaster Manny Mendoza told AFP in Manila.

The storm was forecast to strike the southeast coast of the Philippines overnight Tuesday with gusts of up to 80 kilometers an hour and hit Panay and other central islands later in the week.

About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines every year, some of them deadly.*AFP

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