About 10,000 people are thought to be missing and more than 2,000 dead as a result of extreme flooding in Libya – numbers that could continue to rise.
Storm Daniel caused catastrophic flooding after it hit the north African country’s eastern region.
The Libyan Red Crescent has put the number of deaths at above 2,000, with nearly 10,000 missing, 20,000 displaced and 7,000 families stranded.
Tamer Ramadan, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Libya, told journalists his teams were still doing assessments. “We don’t have a definite number right now. The number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons so far.”
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Derna, a coastal city with a population of roughly 100,000, appears to be the place worst affected. It has been largely inaccessible since the flooding, making the full impact hard to ascertain.
Hichem Chkiouat, a civil aviation minister and member of the emergency committee in the administration that controls the east of the country, told journalists that 1,000 bodies had been recovered. “Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings. I am not exaggerating when I say 25 per cent of the city has disappeared,” he said.
[ In pictures: The aftermath of fatal flooding in LibyaOpens in new window ]
[ Up to 2,000 feared dead in Libya following storm and floodsOpens in new window ]
Prime minister of the eastern Libyan government Ossama Hamad said that 2,000 people could be dead in Derna and thousands were missing. Eastern army spokesman Ahmed al-Mosmari said two dams had collapsed in the city, which is bisected by the seasonal Wadi Derna river.
On Tuesday, Libyan activists were using social media to appeal for urgent assistance from rescue teams with experience of these kind of crises.
In a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, activist and humanitarian researcher Amera Markoussaid there were “hundreds of corpses left without a place to bury them, while thousands are stuck with no one to help them and get them out”. She said efforts were being made to reach the affected areas but “access requires professional equipment that we lack”.
Body bags were among the items urgently needed, she said.
Libyan journalist Fadwa el Gallal described a friend in Derna ringing her “screaming for help, saying we need trained rescue teams, we need helicopters, we need field hospitals and paramedics”.
[ Aftermath of floods in Libya's eastern Al Bayda city captured on cameraOpens in new window ]
More than a decade after the ousting of dictator Muammar Gadafy in 2011, Libya has become in effect a failed state, divided up between militias and rival governments. “This is a consequence of choosing war and corruption over nation building,” said Anas el Gomati, the director of Tripoli-based think tank the Sadeq Institute, while sharing a video seemingly showing collapsed buildings in Derna.
Libya is also a host and transit country for refugees and migrants from across the Middle East and Africa, many of whom are trying to reach Europe. On Tuesday, the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it was concerned about the safety of more than 1,000 refugees registered with the agency – mostly from Sudan and Syria.
