2023-09-13 19:26:51
The death toll in Derna alone exceeded 5,300, the state news agency said Tuesday, citing Mohammed Abu-Lamousha, a spokesman for eastern Libya’s interior ministry. Derna ambulance authorities had previously estimated the number at 2,300 people.
The horrific deaths and devastation caused by Mediterranean Storm Daniel highlighted the intensity of the storm, but also the vulnerability of a nation torn by chaos for more than a decade. The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east and the other in the west, leading to neglect of infrastructure in many areas.
External aid was just beginning to arrive in Derna on Tuesday, more than 36 hours following the disaster that struck the country. The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to this coastal town of some 89,000 inhabitants.
Videos showed dozens of bodies covered with blankets in a hospital courtyard. Another image showed a mass grave filled with bodies. More than 1,500 bodies have been found, and half of them were buried as of Tuesday evening, eastern Libya’s health minister said.
However, the toll is likely to be even higher, numbering in the thousands, said Tamer Ramadan, envoy to Libya for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He told a United Nations press briefing in Geneva, via video conference from Tunisia, that at least 10,000 people were still missing. He also mentioned on Tuesday that more than 40,000 people had been displaced.
The situation in Libya is “as devastating as the situation in Morocco,” Ramadan argued, referring to the deadly earthquake that struck the country Friday evening near the city of Marrakech.
Destruction affected Derna and other areas of eastern Libya on Sunday evening. As the storm hit the coast, residents of Derna reported hearing loud explosions and noticing that dams outside the town had collapsed. Flash floods broke out in Wadi Derna, a river that flows from the mountains through the city and into the sea.
The wall of water “wiped out everything in its path,” said city resident Ahmed Abdalla.
Videos posted online by other residents show vast areas of mud and rubble where raging waters swept away neighborhoods along both banks of the river. Multi-story apartment buildings that once stood far from the river had facades torn off and concrete floors collapsed. Cars lifted by the flood were abandoned on top of each other.
The city of Bayda recorded a record rainfall of 414.1 millimeters from Sunday to Monday.
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