Philippines typhoon death toll closer to 2,000 or 2,500, not 10,000, Aquino says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The death toll from the massive typhoon that hit the Philippines is closer to 2,000 or 2,500, not the previously reported figure of 10,000, President Benigno Aquino told CNN on Tuesday.

"Ten thousand, I think, is too much," Aquino said in an interview posted on CNN's website. He said local officials who provided that estimate may have been too close to the destruction to give an accurate figure. "There was emotional drama involved with that particular estimate," he said.