Malaysia stands ready to provide assistance and support to areas affected by Typhoon Tembin in the southern Philippines.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministry, through the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), was on immediate standby to provide humanitarian assistance to areas affected by the tropical storm, which has been unleashing flash floods and setting off landslides, specifically in the towns of Tubod and Piagapo.

“I have instructed the chief of defence force for the MAF to coordinate the delivery of assistance in the form of foodstuff with his counterpart in the Philippines," he said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.

Hishammuddin said he had contacted Philippine defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana to convey the sympathies and concerns of the ministry, MAF and the Malaysian people for the victims of the disaster in southern Philippines.

International media reported that more than 200 people have been killed and dozens more missing as the storm swept through southern Philippines.

The typhoon is expected to slam into Vietnam today, forcing the local authorities to move one million people from low-lying areas along the south coast.

- Bernama