The official death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has risen to 5,500 in the Philippines. This comes after 260 more bodies were found. 207 of these were in Tacloban city, 46 in other parts of Leyte province and seven in neighboring Samar province.

Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that its Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark" has joined a Chinese emergency field hospital in Abuyog to provide relief to typhoon survivors. Over 1,000 local villagers have received treatment from Chinese medical teams so far, who also helped find 22 missing victims.

The Chinese government emergency medical team began receiving patients at its field hospital in Abuyog on Saturday night. The Peace Ark, with 300 beds and over 100 medical professionals on board, has been providing help since Monday.