Lagatar24 Desk
Kuala Lumpur, Dec.25: The death toll from Malaysia’s worst floods in years had risen to 46, with five people still missing, as workers conducted a huge clean-up on Christmas Day.
Last weekend, rivers overflowed due to days of severe rain, flooding cities, blocking off major roadways, and forcing tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes.
One of the hardest-hit places has been Selangor, Malaysia’s most densely populated and wealthiest state, which encircles the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Many residents of Shah Alam, the state capital, were stranded in their homes for days with no food before being evacuated on boats in a botched rescue attempt.
As more remains were discovered, Inspector General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani claimed the death toll had risen to 46, with the most of the fatalities occurring in the states of Selangor and Pahang.
“Five persons remain unaccounted for. We are hopeful that they will be discovered shortly “, he stated.
He said 54,532 people remained in over 300 evacuation centres across seven states, with 68 routes remaining impassable due to water.
Backhoes and lorries were employed to collect objects thrown across the streets outside people’s homes, according to Acryl Sani, who cautioned that certain rivers remained overflowing.
Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition, had already pushed the government to hold a public inquiry over the widely panned flood response.
He claimed that poor coordination between government agencies and the military’s delayed deployment “converted the natural disaster response into a human, governance tragedy.”
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob acknowledged “weaknesses” but promised future improvements.
Floods attack the Southeast Asian nation every year during the monsoon season, which runs from November to February, but this year’s were the worst since 2014.
