2023-09-12 20:16:09
Tripoli: 2,000 people died in eastern Libya following lightning floods caused by heavy storms and rains. More than 10,000 people are missing. Officials said the death toll is likely to rise.
A part of the city of Derna was completely washed away. Authorities said two dams in the coastal city of Derna had collapsed, adding to the scale of the disaster. Meanwhile, the Presidential Council asked the international community for help. Phone service was restored yesterday in Derna, where there was no telecommunication system for two days. Osama Hamad, the head of the eastern regime, said more than 2,000 people had died and thousands were missing. He said that the tragedy happened when people were sleeping.
Hurricane Daniel, which hit Derna following wreaking havoc in countries like Greece and Bulgaria, caused torrential rains and flash floods. Daniel reached the Mediterranean side on Sunday.
The storm has also wreaked havoc in Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi. Roads, bridges and houses were completely destroyed in many places. Officials said the search and rescue operation is ongoing.
At the same time, the aviation minister and member of the emergency committee Hishem Skiout, who returned from Derna, said that the sight of corpses lying unremoved in many parts of the city was horrifying. He added that more than a thousand bodies have been recovered and the final toll will be huge. About 25 percent of the city has disappeared and many buildings have been destroyed, he said.
Libyan National Army spokesman Ahmed Mismari said that the collapse of the dams in Derna has added to the scale of the disaster. The army spokesperson explained that all the people and buildings were washed away. 6000 people are missing in Derna alone.
Meanwhile, a vehicle with supplies including body bags and medical equipment left the capital of Tripoli for the city of Benghazi yesterday morning, the interim government of Tripoli announced on its Facebook page. A medical convoy of doctors, nurses and other rescue workers arrived in Benghazi early yesterday morning. According to the Libyan television channel Al Mazar, a Turkish rescue team also arrived in the city today. Benghazi is over 180 miles by road from Derna. A spokesman for authorities in the area said yesterday that it was difficult to get an accurate estimate of the death toll as the search continued.
Meanwhile, the City Council announced that roads into the city were closed. At the same time, they called for the opening of a sea route to the coastal city and urgent intervention at the international level.
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