MANILA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Official death toll from Typhoon Xangsane rose to 76 in the Philippines on Sunday, while the government urged people not to stock up fuel and gas in fear of an outbreak of panic in Metro Manila.

    By 06:00 a.m. (22:00 GMT, Sept. 30), the number of the dead from the super typhoon has risen to 76, with 81 injured and 92 still missing, and the total economic loss was estimated at 1.2 billion peso (240 million U.S. dollars), said a latest report released by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

    A total of 230,000 families were hit by the typhoon, the worst one in the past 50 years to hit Metro Manila and Luzon, and 20,000 families have been moved to the evacuation center, according to the report.

    President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was reportedly getting angry over the slow pace of restoration work by the country's power company Meralco and asked the media to inform people about the progress of restoration on an hourly basis.

    The government also urged people not to hoard fuel, goods and other supplies as it assured authorities were working double time to restore power, attend victims of typhoon Xangsane, locally known as Milenyo, and clean up the debris it left all over.

    "We have to effect rapid normalization," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told members of NDCC and representatives from the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), National Transmission Corp. and other agencies concerned.

    Arroyo has also ordered the military, police and other security personnel to keep up security measures in fear of rising number crimes and stealing of public properties.

    More than half of Metro Manila is still without electricity Sunday, three days after Xangsane hit the capital.

    Trade and Industry Peter Favila said the public must be aware that they would have electricity soon and that there was no need to "stock up" on gasoline and diesel.

    "There are long queues in gasoline stations and people are buying by drums for their generators. There is actually no need todo that," Favila said.

    Meralco President Jesus Francisco said the company would try to bring back electricity in Metro Manila this weekend but his promise failed to concretize.

    Numerous fallen trees, some of them more than 100 years old, and many fallen giant billboards are blamed for the difficulty in repairing electricity transmission system. Enditem