2023-09-14 06:59:48
Egyptian army soldiers in a street in Derna, following the passage of Cyclone Daniel, September 13, 2023. AYMAN AL-SAHILI / REUTERS
The town of Derna, in Libya, continued to count its dead on Thursday September 14. Those who are found are buried hastily for fear of the spread of epidemics. The others remain “disappeared”. Entire sections of this coastal city in the east of the country were wiped out after the passage of Cyclone Daniel on the night of Sunday September 10 to Monday September 11.
At least 30,000 people were displaced within Derna, a town of 100,000 inhabitants, and more than 6,000 managed to escape to areas less affected by the disaster, the International Organization said. for migration, and uncertainties remain over the exact number of victims of the disaster.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior of the government in place in the east of the country, Tarek al-Kharraz, declared on Wednesday September 13 that 3,840 deaths had been recorded in the city so far; 3,190 dead have already been buried. Among them were at least 400 foreigners, mostly from Sudan and Egypt. A few hours earlier, on the evening of Tuesday September 13, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, announced that more than 5,300 deaths had been recorded and that this number was likely to increase considerably, even doubling. “The sea constantly dumps dozens of bodies,” he added.
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Questioned by the Saudi television channel Al-Arabiya, the mayor of Derna, Abdulmenam Al-Ghaithi, estimates that the number of deaths in the city could reach between 18,000 and 20,000, taking into account the number of neighborhoods destroyed by flooding. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, for its part, reports a number ” huge “ of deaths that could be counted ” in thousands “, and 10,000 missing.
Mobilization to help victims
Joined by The world, a member of the crisis unit, who is not authorized to speak publicly, confirms that confusion reigns in Derna, where the “The situation is far from being stabilized.” Although basic public services have been restored in the town of Al-Bayda, 200 km east of Benghazi, itself affected by the cyclone, Derna, 100 km further, remains isolated: “There is no gasoline, no electricity and the telecommunications network has been hit hard. This is a major disaster. »
The administration responsible for road networks and bridges estimates that thirty kilometers of the road network is “completely collapsed” in and on the approaches to Derna, further complicating rescue operations. Which have still not reached the surrounding localities, such as the seaside resort of Soussa, also located between the sea and Jebel Akhdar and also hit hard by the winds and torrents which surged from the mountain .
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