Residents fleeing Marawi saw around 100 bodies, Philippines official says

Fears are growing for residents trapped in the besieged Philippines city of Marawi following reports that those fleeing fighting between ISIS-aligned militants and government forces saw as many 100 dead bodies.
Marawi, on the southern island of Mindanao, has been under siege for weeks, following a shock invasion by Islamic militants loyal to Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon in May.
“They have told us that estimated number of dead bodies scattered around the encounter area is more (or) less a hundred,” Assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong said, stressing the reports hadn’t been independently verified.
The number “needs to be verified first since retrieval operations have no access to these areas where (an) intense firefight is taking place.”
These are “personal accounts of witnesses, trapped residents who managed to walk to safety crossing the bridge,” he said.