Military transport aircraft from Middle Eastern and European nations, along with ships, have been ferrying emergency aid to the North African country already scarred by war.
In addition to the missing, tens of thousands of people have been displaced after the huge flash flood slammed into the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna on Sunday. Witnesses compared it to a tsunami after two upstream dams burst when torrential rains brought by Storm Daniel battered the region.
The wall of water ripped away buildings, vehicles and the people inside them. Many were swept out into the sea, with bodies later washing up on beaches littered with debris and car wrecks.
Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi said the estimated number of deaths in the city could reach between 18,000 to 20,000 based on the extent of the damage.
We actually need teams specialised in recovering bodies,” he told Reuters in Derna. “I fear that the city will be infected with an epidemic due to the large number of bodies under the rubble and in the water.”
The catastrophic floods were the second major disaster to hit North Africa in days, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake killed nearly 3,000 people last Friday in Morocco.
The United Nations has pledged $10 million to support Libya’s survivors, including at least 30,000 people it said had been left homeless in Derna. That is almost a third of the eastern Libyan city’s pre-disaster population.
Aid workers will face great challenges.
“Obstructed, destroyed and flooded roads severely undermine access to humanitarian actors,” the International Organization for Migration said, adding there were widespread power outages and communications disruptions.
The bridges over river Derna that connect the eastern part of the city to the west have collapsed,” the IOM said.
Britain announced it was sending an “initial package” of aid worth up to £1 million ($1.25 million). London said it was working with “trusted partners on the ground” to identify the most urgent basic needs, including shelter, healthcare and sanitation.
Source: eNCA
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