More than 2,000 dead and 10,000 missing after Storm Daniel floods eastern Libya
Flooding caused by Storm Daniel devastated eastern Libya, leaving more than 2,000 people confirmed dead and 10,000 registered missing, the Libyan Red Crescent said Tuesday.
Libyan Health Minister Othman Abdul-Jalil told local media he expects the death toll to reach 10,000 as he called for assistance for Derna, a city around 150 miles east of Benghazi on the Mediterranean Sea. Islamic State militants moved into the region after a NATO-backed coup removed then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but they were driven out by Libyan National Army, according to the BBC.
East Libyan government Prime Minister Ossama Hamad told the Associated Press at least 2,000 were feared dead.
The floods swept away more than a quarter of the city of Derna, ripping through dams and washing away buildings. Benghazi, Susa and Al-Marj were also affected by the disaster.
Over 1,000 bodies have been recovered in the city, minister of civil aviation Hichem Abu Chkiouat told Reuters.
"I returned from Derna. It is very disastrous. Bodies are lying everywhere - in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings," said Chkiouat, also a member of the emergency committee in Libya's eastern administration.
Tamer Ramadan, Libya's envoy for the Red Crescent Societies confirmed to reporters at a virtual press briefing that 10,000 people are still missing, adding that the "huge" death toll would likely reach into the thousands in the coming days, the Associated Press reported. He added that Libya faces a situation "as devastating as the situation in Morocco," referring to the earthquake that struck the North African country Friday night, leaving more than 2,800 dead.
"Early reports indicate that dozens of villages and towns have been severely affected by the storm, with widespread flooding, damage to infrastructure, and loss of life," Georgette Gagnon, the U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, said via X, formerly known as Twitter.
Libyan Red Crescent members waded through flood waters, carrying survivors to safety, in video shared by AFP. Local emergency responders arrived in Derna from other parts of the country, even as the arrival of supplies and equipment was delayed by roads destroyed in the disaster, the AP reported.
Videos posted to social media by residents showed demolished buildings on the banks of the Wadi Derna River after two dams collapsed in the torrential floods. Blocks of apartment buildings were inundated by floodwater and vehicles were swept off the road.
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Help on the Way
Multiple countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates offered to support rescue and humanitarian aid efforts in the wake of the disaster. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said the U.S. is coordinating with Libyan authorities and the U.N. to assist relief efforts.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi announced he had convened military leaders to "to provide all forms of humanitarian aid, including relief crews, rescue equipment, and shelters for those affected" by the disaster.
Turkey also sent three military planes equipped with rescue teams and emergency supplies to Libya, according to videos from Turkish media outlet TRT World Now.
"Türkiye is ready, as always, to provide all kind of support needed to brotherly Libya in the face of this natural disaster," said the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter with USA Today. You can reach her on email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X at @CybeleMO.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Libya flooding leaves over 2,000 dead, 10,000 missing amid devastation
