Over 250 hospital patients in southern Philippines forced by flash floods to evacuate

Over 250 patients were evacuated from a hospital on the southern island of Mindanao after flash floods hit it on Thursday and Friday, a local official said Saturday.

A total of 254 patients, including children and those with mobility difficulties, were evacuated to the provincial capitol building, Buluan Vice Mayor Jazzer King Mangudadatu said, according to local daily the Inquirer.

Heavy rain over the past two days lashed the province of Maguindanao del Sur, triggering floods that gradually entered several hospital wards and forced the evacuation.

"This is the first time in the last 50 years that the Buluan District Hospital was flooded," said Mangudadatu.