Over 2,000 people have died and more than 10,000 are missing after major flooding in Libya that caused the collapse of a major dam in the city of Derna.
Rescue workers fear many of the missing individuals may also be dead as search efforts confirm more casualties in the area.
At Least 2,000 Dead, Up to 10,000 Missing After Dams Burst in Libya https://t.co/E6rPtIBYQU via @BreitbartNews
— MICHAEL BRELISH (@MichaelBrelish) September 12, 2023
“We can confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far. The death toll is huge and might reach thousands,” Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) in Libya, warned on Tuesday, according to Breitbart News.
"The IFRC reported that three of its rescue volunteers from the Libya Red Crescent have been killed while attempting to aid flood victims in Derna," it added.
#Libya #floods wipe out quarter of city, thousands dead https://t.co/KugehktWKY
— The Business Standard (@tbsnewsbd) September 13, 2023
"In Derna, a city of around 125,000 inhabitants, Reuters journalists saw wrecked neighborhoods, their buildings washed out and cars flipped on their roofs in streets covered in mud and rubble left by a wide torrent after dams burst," Reuters reported.
"Mohamad al-Qabisi, director of the Wahda Hospital, said 1,700 people had died in one of the city's two districts and 500 had died in the other," it continued.
Thousands are feared dead and thousands more are missing in flood-ravaged eastern Libya https://t.co/8MKvHDxw1X
— Zitto MwamiRuyagwa Kabwe (@zittokabwe) September 13, 2023
"U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres conveyed his solidarity with the Libyan people and said the United Nations 'is working with local, national and international partners to get urgently needed humanitarian assistance to those in affected areas,' U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said," according to the Associated Press.
"The destruction came to Derna and other parts of eastern Libya on Sunday night. As the storm pounded the coast, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions and realized that dams outside the city had collapsed. Flash floods were unleashed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea," the outlet noted.
Information from the area continues to be tentative, with some reports of over 5,000 deaths and various videos and testimonies that are in many cases unconfirmed.
It is clear, however, that the city has been devastated by the massive flood at a level as deadly as the recent earthquake in Morocco that killed at least 2,800 people.
The recovery efforts will continue for some time as the city and nation respond to the grief of the tragedy and seek to rebuild.
