By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Malaysia and Indonesia faced more suffering Friday, with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim barring his cabinet members from going on leave after the displacement of over 90,000 people in a growing flood disaster that authorities fear could be the country’s worst in a decade.
Across its maritime border in flood-stricken Indonesia, rescuers recovered two more bodies from a tourist bus hit by a landslide triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, bringing the death toll to nine, officials said.
At least 20 people have died in other landslides and floods in the region this week.
Rescuers found the bodies from the bus, which was covered by trees, mud, and rocks from the landslide on the road from Medan city to Berastagi in North Sumatra province, officials said.
The road is the main route from the regional capital, Medan, to other districts in the area.
The bus was among vehicles cut off by previous landslides along the road since Wednesday morning.
More than 10 people were also injured and were taken to a hospital in Medan city, where Christians had urged for prayers.
‘CONTINUE DUTIES’
Back in Malaysia, “All ministers have been asked to continue their duties and go down to the ground now,” Anwar told reporters.
Three people have died, and 94,778 people have been evacuated to 527 temporary shelters in nine states, with Kelantan and neighboring Terengganu the worst hit, according to the National Disaster Command Centre.
It did not have more details on the deaths.
Floods have been hampering the east coast of peninsular Malaysia during the monsoon period between October and March. Still, officials said this week’s torrential rain led to mass evacuations, mainly in the northeastern state of Kelantan, which borders Thailand.
Indonesia, too, was hard-hit with Fithriyani Tarigan, a Christian, telling Worthy News:
“At least nine people died in my village of Semangat Gunung, which is a one-hour drive from the city of Medan.”
She said it was crucial to “Please pray for my country.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed sorrow and ordered an immediate investigation after a fire erupted early Wednesday at a nursery for newborns in a major government hospital in Pakistan’s capital, killing more than a dozen babies.
The U.S. Supreme Court is again being asked to step into the national fight over whether states may require the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms, as new challenges from Louisiana and Texas push the issue toward a potentially major First Amendment showdown.
A U.S. foreign-aid watchdog has referred more than 100 current and former UNRWA employees for possible suspension or debarment after finding evidence tying them to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in Israel and/or affiliation with Hamas’s military wing.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday declaring a national emergency aimed at protecting the U.S. bulk-power system from foreign-made equipment that the White House says could expose America’s electric grid to cyber intrusion, sabotage, or supply-chain disruption.
A monk has been killed, and two other people seriously wounded after unidentified assailants attacked residents of one of Ukraine’s best-known Orthodox monasteries in the war-torn Donetsk region, church officials said.
Hungary’s new government has asked prosecutors to investigate suspected fraud and financial misconduct surrounding the previous administration’s purchase of nearly 17,000 Chinese ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic, while dozens of senior diplomats are being removed from their posts.
Ukraine has dramatically widened drone attacks deep inside Russia, striking military aircraft, vessels, energy facilities and warehouses, while Russian troops edged closer to the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk amid reports that Moscow could mobilize hundreds of thousands of additional soldiers.