KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — As many as 110 Malaysian students in Queensland, Australia affected by the floods have been evacuated to temporary relief centres (PPS), said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

In a post on Twitter today, he said 75 of them who were students under various agencies were stationed at the University of Queensland relief centre, while another 35 are being relocated.

Saifuddin said, overall there were 348 Malaysians registered in Queensland, including about 200 students.

He added that the Malaysian High Commission in Canberra in collaboration with Malaysian community in Brisbane representative, Chan Wai Kiong and President of the Malaysian Students’ Council of Australia (MASCA) Razin Hadi was monitoring and coordinating the relocation of affected Malaysians to relief centres.

"The Queensland State Government through a televised broadcast has informed that the flood situation is expected to continue for the next three to five days.

"According to the weather forecast agency, the southbound rain situation is expected to affect some areas around Northeast New South Wales and Sydney,” he said.

Saifuddin said in this regard, the Malaysian High Commission in Canberra in collaboration with the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney was always on alert and monitoring and reporting on the development of the floods from time to time.

He advised Malaysians in the affected areas to contact the high commission directly at +61261 200 300/310 or +61416 334 901 or email to mwcanberra@kln.gov.my.

According to media reports, thousands of residents on Australia’s east coast were ordered to leave their homes following heavy rains that submerged several towns. The death toll has risen to eight so far.

A total of 1,544 people were evacuated to relief centres, while more than 1,000 schools on the country’s east coast were closed. — Bernama