2023-09-14 12:15:00
We are sending additional ICRC teams to the region to provide humanitarian assistance. In addition, the organization is strengthening its forensic team in Benghazi, responsible for distributing 6,000 body bags to help the authorities and the Libyan Red Crescent Society treat the deceased with dignity.
“The disaster was violent and brutal. A seven-meter-high wave swept away buildings and dragged infrastructure into the sea. There are missing people, bodies returned by the sea, homes destroyed. The city is suffering immense emotional trauma,” says Yann Fridez, head of the ICRC delegation in Libya, who had a team in Derna to assist families through small economic initiatives when the flood hit.
In the coming weeks, and in collaboration with the Libyan Red Crescent Society, kitchen utensils, mattresses and hygiene items will be distributed in the city. During these days, medicines will also be donated to the authorities and the Libyan Red Crescent.
A major obstacle to humanitarian action is access to flood-affected areas, as roads have been severely damaged or completely destroyed. The ICRC is also assessing the risk posed by unexploded ordnance and abandoned ammunition depots in Derna, an additional challenge for residents, first responders and authorities working to alleviate suffering.
“It is encouraging to see that the population and authorities have come together to provide all possible assistance, but there is a long road ahead. It will take months, perhaps years, for the population to recover from this profound damage,” says Fridez.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate established in the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people affected by armed conflicts and other situations of violence around the world, doing everything possible to protect their lives and dignity, and to alleviate their suffering, often together with their Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
Media Contacts:
Jessica Moussan, ICRC, Dubai, tel: +971 504 254 091, email [email protected]
Imene Trabelsi, ICRC, Lebanon, tel: +961 313 83 53, email [email protected]
Alaa Nayel, ICRC, Kuwait, tel: +965 966 73 614, email [email protected]
Crystal Wells, ICRC, Geneva, tel: +41 79 642 80 56, email [email protected]
Fatima Sator, ICRC, Geneva, tel.: +41 79 848 4908, email [email protected]
Christoph Hanger, ICRC, Geneva, tel.: +41 79 731 04 03, email [email protected]
Shuangfeng Zhang, ICRC, Beijing, tel: +86 138 100 355 22, email [email protected]
Matthew Morris, ICRC, London, tel: +44 7753 809 471, email [email protected]
Frédéric Joli, ICRC, Paris, tel.: +33 6 20 49 46 30, email [email protected]
Elizabeth Shaw, ICRC, Washington, tel: +1 202 361 1566, email [email protected]
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