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13-09-2023
TRIPOLI: At least 10,000 are missing and around 3,000 feared dead in Libya after a huge storm triggered flash floods that burst dams, swept away buildings and left bodies “lying everywhere.”
Destruction came to the city of Derna, and other parts of eastern Libya, on Sunday night, when Storm Daniel which had already caused deadly flooding in southern Europe pounded the coast.
Loud explosions were heard as dams collapsed, unleashing flash floods down Wadi Derna, a seasonal river running from the mountains through the middle of the city and into the sea. The wall of water sweeping through Derna “erased everything in its path,” said one resident, Ahmed Abdalla.
About a quarter of the city has been wiped out, and it remains entirely cut off without electricity or communications, according to early reports.
A health minister in the administration that controls the east of Libya said more than 3,000 people were believed dead. “The number of missing people is in the thousands, and the number of dead is expected to reach 10,000,” Othman Abdul Jalil told Al-Massar TV.
“The situation is catastrophic,” he said. “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts (of the city). Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach.”
Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2,000 may have died in Derna alone, with many of the victims swept away when the dams burst.
Emergency responders, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents were digging through rubble to recover the dead. They also used inflatable boats to retrieve bodies from the water. Excavators and other equipment have yet to arrive.
Abdul Jalil said the city was inaccessible and bodies were scattered all over. “The situation was more significant and worse than we expected. An international intervention is needed,” he said.
Since a 2011 uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains divided between two rival administrations: one in the east and one in the west, each backed by different militias and foreign governments. The conflict has left the country with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure.
The deluge erased entire residential areas erased along the Wadi Derna. Multistory buildings that once stood well back from the river were partially collapsed into the mud.
The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead and the main hospital was flooded, forcing the evacuation of patients. (Int’l News Desk)
