2023-09-16 16:16:55
Humanitarian organizations warned of the growing risk of the spread of diseases after the floods that left thousands dead and missing in eastern Libya, where hopes of finding survivors are exhausted this Saturday, six days after the catastrophe.
The waterspout caused by Storm Daniel that hit the city of Derna, on the shores of the Mediterranean, last weekend burst two dams and caused a lightning flood that destroyed everything in its path.
The flood, comparable to a tsunami of several meters, left a landscape of desolation, with a large part of the city devastated as if a strong earthquake had occurred, said an AFP photographer according to information published by that news agency.
Entire buildings were swept away by water and others are half destroyed, with vehicles wedged into their walls. This catastrophe hits a country ravaged by years of conflict, where there are two opposing governments.
Senior officials from the authority that controls eastern Libya (which is not the government recognized by the UN) have given contradictory assessments. Othman Abdeljalil, the head of the Eastern government’s Health portfolio, reported 3,166 deaths in a report issued on Friday night, which included 101 fatalities found during the day.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that “the bodies of 3,958 people were found and identified” and that 9,000 are missing. This UN agency announced that 29 tons of medical supplies have already arrived in the city of Benghazi, about 300 kilometers from Derna.
Two cargo planes landed in Benghazi with aid, one from the United Arab Emirates and another from Iran. In turn, at the entrance to Derna there is a constant flow of vehicles traveling along a makeshift road and excavators continue working to remove the debris. In Al Bayda, 100 kilometers west of Derna, residents are trying to clear roads and clean their mud-logged houses after the flood.
Rescue efforts are hampered by the chaos in which this country has been plunged since the uprising that, with the help of NATO, overthrew the dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. There are currently two opposing governments: one in Tripoli, recognized by the UN and led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, and another in the east, controlled by the influential Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
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