Libya: at least 5,300 dead, thousands missing after devastating floods

Two days after Libya’s Derna was devastated by severe floods and a double dam collapse, the death toll has increased to 5,300, according to the interior ministry. Over 1,500 bodies have been pulled from the half-submerged wreckage in the coastal city.

With over 10,000 still missing in the flood-ravaged country, more than 40,000 have also been displaced. A Libyan diplomat compared the situation to earthquake-hit Morocco.

Help was slow to reach the city of Derna, which was considered inaccessible for nearly a day after the floods. The water from the collapsed dams washed away entire neighbourhoods and caused major infrastructural damage.

Outside help was only just starting to reach Derna on Tuesday, more than 36 hours after the disaster struck. The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to the coastal city of some 89,000.

Videos of the flood’s aftermath showed cars piled up on each other, half-collapsed buildings and submerged trees.

East Libyan health minister Othman Abduljaleel said many bodies may still be under the rubble or had been washed out into the Mediterranean Sea, news agency AP reported.

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“We were stunned by the amount of destruction ... the tragedy is very significant and beyond the capacity of Derna and the government,” he told the agency.