The president has declared a third of the country a disaster zone and urgently appealed for foreign aid.
Reports from neighboring Mozambique said a group of 25 schoolchildren were swept away by floodwater on January 12.
Heavy regional rain began last month and forecasters say they expect it to continue over the coming days.
Peter Mutharika said his government alone did not have the money to cope.
Homes and crops in Malawi were destroyed by the rising torrents while roads and railways have also been cut off.
One government official said many victims died when villages were flooded in Mangoche district, an area in the south about 60 miles south of Blantyre, the commercial capital.
“People have fled into schools and churches on higher ground, others are in the open because there is not enough space,” said Grey Mkwanda, a district planning officer, speaking to the Associated Press news agency.
He added that some victims in Blantyre had perished when their homes collapsed.
According to the city’s police spokesman, Elizabeth Divala, search teams are still looking for two children who went missing during the floods.
The rising waters have been caused by late summer storms in the region.
President Joe Biden has urged pro-Palestinian protesters on university campuses to uphold the rule of…
Blue Ivy Carter has joined the voice cast of The Lion King prequel Mufasa: The…
At least five people, including a four-month-old baby, have been killed after dozens of tornadoes…
Harvey Weinstein has been hospitalized just days after his 2020 rape conviction in New York…
Hamas has published a video showing the first proof of life of US and Israeli…
Prosecutors and Donald Trump’s attorneys delivered opening statements and the first witness was called on…