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10,000 people missing and thousands feared dead as Libya devastated by floods

Published:Tuesday | September 12, 2023 | 11:45 AM
In this photo provided by the Libyan government, cars and rubble sit in a street in Derna, Libya, on Monday, September 11, 2023, after it was flooded by heavy rains. Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that broke dams swept away entire neighbourhoods and wrecked homes in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation. As many as 2,000 people were feared dead one of the country's leaders said. (Libyan government via AP)

CAIRO (AP) — Emergency workers uncovered hundreds of bodies in the wreckage of Libya's eastern city of Derna on Tuesday, and it was feared the toll could spiral with 10,000 people reported still missing after floodwaters smashed through dams and washed away entire neighbourhoods of the city.

The startling death and devastation wreaked by Mediterranean storm Daniel pointed to the storm's intensity, but also the vulnerability of a nation torn apart by chaos for more than a decade. 

The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west, and the result has been neglect of infrastructure in many areas.

Outside help was only just starting to reach Derna on Tuesday, more than 36 hours after the disaster struck.

The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to the coastal city of some 89,000.

Footage showed dozens of bodies covered by blankets in the yard of one hospital. Another image showed a mass grave piled with bodies.

More than 1,000 corpses were collected, including at least 700 that have been buried so far, the health minister for eastern Libya said.

Derna's ambulance authority put the current death toll at 2,300.

But the toll is likely to be higher, in the thousands, said Tamer Ramadan, Libya envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He told a U.N. briefing in Geneva via videoconference from Tunisia that at least 10,000 people were still missing.

The situation in Libya was “as devastating as the situation in Morocco,” Ramadan said, referring to the deadly earthquake that hit near the city of Marrakesh on Friday night.

The destruction came to Derna and other parts of eastern Libya on Sunday night. 

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