At least 2300 dead in ‘epic’ Libya floods, thousands more missing

At least 2300 people were killed after the catastrophic flash floods devastated entire neighbourhoods.

It’s thought many bodies have been washed into the Mediterranean Sea in what’s been described as a “calamity”.

Local authorities have admitted the dam hadn’t been “maintained for a while”.

As global concern has spread, multiple nations have offered to urgently send aid and rescue teams to help the war-scarred country that has been overwhelmed by what one UN official labelled “a calamity of epic proportions”.

Massive destruction shattered the city of Derna, in Libya’s east, home to 100,000 people, where multistorey buildings on the river banks collapsed and houses and cars vanished in the raging waters.

Libyan emergency services on the ground reported an initial death toll of more than 2300 in Derna alone and said more than 5000 people remained missing while about 7000 were injured.

“The situation in Derna is shocking and very dramatic,” said Osama Ali of the Tripoli-based Rescue and Emergency Service.

“We need more support to save lives because there are people still under the rubble and every minute counts.”

Social media images

Libya is currently divided with different governments holding sway over different areas. Derna is not under the control of the recognised government based in the capital Tripoli.

The floods were caused by torrential rains from Storm Daniel, which made landfall in Libya on Sunday after earlier lashing Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Derna, 250 kilometres west of Benghazi, is ringed by hills and bisected by what is normally a dry riverbed in summer, but which has turned into a raging torrent of mud-brown water that swept away dams and several major bridges.

Images on social media appeared to show the remains of a dam south of Derna. A man can be seen pointing at the structure, made of earth and rock, which has almost entirely collapsed.

Muddy water can be seen around it where the torrent poured through.

Another shot shows the dam prior to the collapse looking pristine. It’s thought the main job of the dams was not to hold back and regulate water flow on a permanent basis, but only to do so during the rare times the river filled.

‘Like a tsunami’

“I was shocked by what I saw, it’s like a tsunami,” Hisham Chkiouat, from the government based in Libya’s east, told the BBC.

“It’s a calamity, the dam that collapsed hasn’t been maintained for a while”.

The number of dead given by the Libyan service roughly matched the grim early estimates provided by the Red Cross and by local authorities in the eastern region, who have warned the death toll may yet rise further.

“The death toll is huge and might reach thousands,” Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies earlier told reporters.

“We confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons so far,” Mr Ramadan said via video link from Tunisia, which borders Libya.

‘Catastrophic’ situation

Footage on Libyan TV showed dozens of bodies, wrapped in blankets or sheets, on Derna’s main square, awaiting identification and burial, and more bodies in Martouba, a village about 30 kilometres to the southeast.

More than 300 victims were buried on Monday, many in mass graves — but vastly greater numbers of people were feared lost in the waters of the river that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

Libya, an oil-rich country in North Africa, is still recovering from the years of war and chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed popular uprising which toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The country is now divided between two rival governments — the UN-brokered, internationally recognised administration based in the capital Tripoli in the west, and a separate administration in the eastern region impacted by the flood disaster.

A Derna city council official described the situation as “catastrophic” and asked for a “national and international intervention”, speaking to TV channel Libya al-Ahrar.

Rescue teams from Turkey have arrived in eastern Libya, according to authorities, and the UN and several countries offered to send aid, among them Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Qatar, Tunisia and the United States.

‘Harrowing images’

The storm also hit Benghazi and the hill district of Jabal al-Akhdar. Flooding, mudslides and other major damage were reported from the wider region, with images showing overturned cars and trucks.

Libya’s National Petroleum Company, which has its main fields and terminals in eastern Libya, declared “a state of maximum alert” and suspended flights between production sites where it said activity was drastically reduced.

Libya’s UN-brokered government under Abdelhamid Dbeibah announced three days of national mourning on Monday and emphasised “the unity of all Libyans” in the face of the disaster.