Poland 'mourns' after Philippine typhoon deaths

An aerial view of the super typhoon devastated town of Guiuan, eastern Samar province, Philippines, 11 November 2013. Philippine authorities on 11 November, appealed for calm after one of the world's strongest typhoons left survivors desperate for food and water in areas affected by the storm: photo - EPA/DENNIS M. SABANGAN

"On behalf of the Polish nation I offer my deepest sympathy to all affected by this tragedy. During these difficult times we join in the mourning of the families and friends of the victims," President Komorowski said in a letter to his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino III.

Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted "Poland's condolences and solidarity".

Troops in central Philippines on Monday reported a death toll of 942, Reuters reports.

"The situation is bad, the devastation has been significant. In some cases the devastation has been total," Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras has said.

The United Nations said officials in Tacloban, the city which bore the brunt of the storm on Friday, had reported one mass grave of 300 to 500 bodies.

Poland's foreign ministry has advised Poles not to travel to the Philippines and the ministry's spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski told the TVP channel that, "we currently do not have information about Polish citizens among the victims of the typhoon. A few dozen Poles had been staying in the regions where the disaster struck. We're constantly trying to verify their status."

Kristalina Georgieva, the EU humanitarian aid commissioner, said relief efforts would be guided by three priorities.

The first one is to get access to remote areas as quickly as possible, and the access issue is both transportation and also restoring telecommunications," she said

"The second, of course, is to get the immediate humanitarian assistance for people affected by this kind of disaster. And the next one would be shelter." (pg)