Toll feared to have risen to five in Malaysian floods

TERRA.WIRE

Toll feared to have risen to five in Malaysian floods
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) Dec 20, 2005
The death toll from floods in Malaysia's north was feared to have risen to five Tuesday after two more people went missing in the raging floodwaters, officials said.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who toured the affected areas Monday, was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Berita Harian daily that in the worst-affected regions, the floods were the "worst in 30 years".

Flooding has hit five states -- Perlis and Kedah in the north, Kelantan and Terengganu in the northeast and north-central Perak.

Earlier confirmed fatalities include a disabled 22-year-old girl who drowned in Terengganu and two children in Kelantan. However, four rescue workers who were reported missing on Monday were found safe and alive, police said.

Water levels swollen by the unusually heavy monsoon rains have receded in some areas, but a major river in Kelantan remained above the danger level, police said.

Rescue workers in Kelantan were searching for a 40-year-old man who was believed to have fallen into the water after attempting to cross a river in a boat.

And in neighbouring Terengganu state, workers were looking for a missing fisherman feared to have drowned, said a district police official.

Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate their homes, and by Tuesday there were 11,052 people in relief centres in Kedah, 4,517 in Perlis and 2,768 in Kelantan.

In Terengganu, a district police officials said the situation there was improving.

"Water levels have fallen to below the dangerous level. All evacuees have gone home this morning. The situation has improved," he told AFP.

A police official at the flood operations room in Perlis state also said that the situation there was "improving, but slowly."

However, water levels at a major dam had breached the danger level, he added.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.