In Libya floods more than 5,000 lives are presumed to be lost while 10,000 people are still missing. In northeastern Libya, extreme rainfall on 10th September has caused catastrophic flooding causing two dams to collapse. This resulted in more water flooding into inundated areas in northeastern Libya.
On Tuesday the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’s delegation head, Tamer Ramadan, reported the number of missing people in Libya due to floods in a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland. She said, “The death toll is huge.”
Eastern Libya’s interior ministry has stated that more than 5,000 people are presumed to be dead. But the numbers cannot be confirmed yet as to the huge destruction in the region. Among those presumed dead in the floods 145 were Egyptian reported officials of a northeastern city of Libya, Tobruk.
The worst devastation caused by flooding was seen in the eastern city of Libya, Derna where 6000 people are missing. Libya’s eastern administration’s health minister, Othman Abduljalil told a TV channel in Libya that the situation is “catastrophic” after what he had seen touring the city on Monday after the floods.
Authorities said that the whole neighborhood seems to have washed away in the city of Derna due to the floods. An emergency and ambulance service spokesperson, Osama Aly said that the hospitals in Derna are not operable while the morgues are full. Aly added that the dead bodies are left on the sidewalks outside the morgues.
A doctor, Anas Barghathy who is currently volunteering in Derna said to a news agency, “There are no first-hand emergency services. People are working at the moment to collect the rotting bodies.”
Relatives of inhabitants of Derna said that they were terrified after seeing videos of the flooding and when there was no response from their family members. Ayah, who has cousins living in Derna, said that she was unable to reach her cousins since the flood. She said, “I’m really worried about them. I have two cousins who live in Derna. It seems all communications are down and I don’t know if they are alive at this point. It is very terrifying watching the videos coming out of Derna. We are all terrified.”
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