Nearly 90 have been killed and dozens are missing after a tropical storm hit the southern Philippines triggering mudslides and flooding, police and disaster officials say.

The casualties were all on the main southern island of Mindanao, they said.

“We’re are still trying to confirm reports of a farming village buried by a mudslide due to heavy rains brought by the typhoon,” said Ryan Cabus, an official in Tubod town.

Tropical storm Tembin has battered the southern Philippines days before Christmas, officials say.

More than 15,000 people have been displaced by Tembin, which slammed into Midnanao on Friday and swept through the region’s provinces as it moved west at 20 kilometres per hour.

Tembin, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 km/h and gusts of up to 95 km/h was expected to bring heavy rains over Mindanao and the western province of Palawan until Christmas Eve, the weather bureau said.

It was expected to leave the Philippines on Christmas Day, it added.