KUALA LUMPUR, 26 December 2021, (TON): Officials said “the death toll from Malaysia’s worst floods in years rose to 46 Saturday, with five people still missing, as work crews continued a massive clean-up on Christmas day.”

Days of torrential rain caused rivers to overflow last weekend, swamping cities, cutting off major roads, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Selangor Malaysia’s most densely populated and wealthiest state, encircling the capital Kuala Lumpur  has been one of the worst-hit areas.

Many in its flood-hit state capital Shah Alam were left stranded in their homes with barely any food for days, before being evacuated on boats in a chaotic rescue operation.

Inspector General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the death toll rose to 46 people as more bodies were recovered, with the majority of the fatalities in Selangor and Pahang states.

He told a press conference “there are still five people missing. We hope they will be found soon.”

He said 54,532 people were still in more than 300 evacuation centers across seven states and 68 roads remained closed due to flooding.