UAE sends aid to thousands of flood victims in Malaysia

Country’s worst floods in decades kill 20 people and leave more than 200,000 displaced

Muhammad Fadzil Wahab, a local volunteer rescues a kitten from a rooftop of an abandoned house as floodwaters submerged areas following heavy monsoon rains in Mentakab town in Malaysia's Pahang state on January 8. Mohd RasFan / AFP

Muhammad Fadzil Wahab, a local volunteer, with a very important passenger. Mohd Rasfan / AFP

Residents ride a boat through floodwaters in Mentakab in Malaysia's Pahang state on January 8, following heavy monsoon rains. The UAE has sent aid to help those in need. Mohd Rasfan / AFP

A woman walks along a road submerged by floodwaters following heavy monsoon rains in Mentakab town in Malaysia's Pahang state. AFP 

Residents ride a boat through floodwaters in Mentakab in Malaysia's Pahang state following heavy rains. AFP 

Residents walk along a road submerged by floodwaters in Mentakab in Malaysia's Pahang state following heavy rains that have displaced hundreds of thousands of people. AFP

The UAE is sending medicine, food and shelter to more than 50,000 people affected by floods in Malaysia.

At least 20 people  died and more than 200,000 were displaced in the country's worst floods in decades, which were caused by intense monsoon rains.

Rescuers are trying to reach people left stranded after villages were submerged in the north-east. Pahang is the worst-hit state.

The UAE aid is part of a first phase of support being distributed by the Emirates Red Crescent.

UAE teams are in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. They are overseeing relief operations and delivering humanitarian supplies in co-ordination with the Pahang authorities and federal officials.

Mohammed Al Falahi, the Red Crescent’s secretary general, said aid would be supplied based on field reports.

“The first phase will focus on shelter, food and health requirements, and then other stages will follow,” he said.