BANJUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 26,000 people were affected by recent floods in Gambia, according to the West African country's the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).

As of Sept. 22, the total number of victims from the floods in the country hit 26,544, NDMA chief Essa Khan told a press conference here on Tuesday.

According to Khan, in Lower River Region (LRR), the affected people numbered 3,815, including children, pregnant women and the disabled.

"For Western Region, the total number of people affected now stands 4,969. In the Kanifing Municipality, the total number of people affected has risen to 8,239, while in Banjul, the figure remains the same.

"In URR, the number of people affected stands at 2,706 and CRR a total of 1,596 people were recorded to be affected as a result of these floods. In the NBR, the total number of people recorded stands at 3,396. Therefore, the total number of people affected nationally as a result of these floods stands at 26,544 as of Sept. 22, 2010," the official disclosed.

The NDMA boss said, "The disaster management coordination is key and what we have done as an agency together with our partners is that we have established what we call the Rapid Emergency Coordination Group and this is very important in disaster management."

Speaking earlier, the vice president and minister of women's affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, said the government deals with relief, humanitarian and infrastructural matters, stressing that whenever disaster strikes, the focus should be saving lives and property.

"The government provided 10 million U.S. dollars on the spot towards ongoing humanitarian efforts and aid to the victims who were affected," she stated.