A 58-year-old construction worker died after being dragged into the sea while catching shrimps along the shores of Purok 4, Barangay Singcang-Airport in Bacolod City, Thursday afternoon.

Members of the Amity Volunteer Brigade found Saturnino Gonzaga's body after searching for the construction worker for two hours. His body was caught by a fisherman's net several kilometers from the shore.

“I was standing just a few meters from him while he tried to grab hold of a pump boat passing by, but he was not able to reach it. The strong current carried him away,” the victim's son, Gilbert, said.

The incident occurred at the height of Tropical Depression Quinta.

Bacolod City in Negros Occidental is one of the affected areas by the storm, which entered the country Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, some 30 families were left homeless after their houses were destroyed by a tornado in Barangay Catabla, Talisay City.

The Negros Occidental provincial disaster management division said 59 homes were also damaged by the tornado that struck the village at the height of the storm.

More than 20 families from different villages in Bacolod City, who are residing along riverbanks, also evacuated their homes after their houses were hit by strong flood waters.

Stronger 'Quinta' moves out of RP

Weather bureau PAGASA said the tropical depression has intensified into a storm as it moved towards the South China Sea.

As of 11 a.m., the typhoon was located 250 kilometers northwest of Coron, Palawan. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 80 kph. It was moving west northwest at 22 kph.

PAGASA said the typhoon's effects will still be felt by residents of Coron town in Palawan province until Saturday morning.

The weather bureau said it is now watching out for a shallow low pressure area that was spotted 440 kilometers east of Mindanao.