Death toll rises to four, almost 50,000 moved to relief centres

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KUALA LUMPUR: The death toll has doubled to four and two more people are feared to have drowned as the flood situation in Kedah and Perlis continued to worsen this evening, with almost 50,000 moved to relief centres.

However, the situation in Kelantan has improved tremendously, with all the 475 evacuees having returned home by this afternoon and the sun shining brightly for most of the day.

Almost 5,000 people were moved to relief centres in Kedah today, taking the total number of evacuees in the state to 33,413 this evening.

The bodies of two girls who fell into an irrigation canal in Kedah yesterday were recovered this afternoon, raising the death toll to four in the state.

Meanwhile, two children are feared drowned after they fell into an irrigation canal.

Close to 2,000 people were evacuated in Perlis today, raising the number of evacuees in the state to 15,027 by the evening.

In Kedah, there are 33,413 evacuees, up from 28,473 this morning, at the  relief centres in the districts of Kubang Pasu (15,672), Kota Setar (12,960), Padang Terap (2,737), Pokok Sena (1,868) and Pendang (176).

While the number of evacuees in Kubang Pasu, Kota Setar and Pendang have gone up, 482 of those in Padang Terap have been allowed to return to their homes after the flood waters receded.

A spokesman of the National Security Council operations room said that up to 4pm, 105 relief centres had been opened, with 46 of them in Kubang Pasu, 35 in Padang Terap, 15 in Kota Setar, eight in Pokok Sena and one in Pendang.

The two children feared drowned in an irrigation canal in Tanjung Bendahara in Alor Setar had been identified as Nur Irshah Rosli, nine, and Awwad Hakimi Rudaini, seven.

Kota Setar police chief ACP Abdul Ghafar Rajab said they fell into the canal while playing in a flooded padi field with several other children who saw them being sucked into a deep hole. — Bernama