The dead toll of Flooding in Libya ‘s coastal city of Derna has risen to 11,300. According to the Libyan Red Crescent, as search efforts continue following a major flood. It is caused by the breaching of two dams during heavy rains.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Libya secretary-general, Marie el-Drese, informed The Associated Press news agency that another 10,100 people are missing in the Mediterranean city. Derna’s death toll had earlier been estimated at 5,500. Around 170 people were murdered elsewhere in the country as a result of the storm. The mayor of Derna, Abdel-Moneim al-Ghaithi, estimated the number could rise to 20,000 due to the number of washed-out neighborhoods.
On Sunday night, water washed away entire families in Derna, exposing vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country, which has been mired in turmoil since a 2011 uprising that deposed long-ruling dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Rescue team still finding hope of finding alive
“Within seconds, the water level suddenly rose,” said one injured survivor due to flooding in Libya. He said he and his mother were swept away in the late-night experience before scrambling inside an empty building downstream.
“The water was rising with us until we got to the fourth floor,” the anonymous guy testified from his hospital bed, according to testimony released by the Benghazi Medical Center.”There were screams.” I could see automobiles and bodies being swept away by the flood through the glass.
It lasted an hour or an hour and a half, but it felt like a year to us.
An interior ministry spokesperson, Tariq al-Kharaz, put the number of deaths in Derna at much than 3,000.
“Because of the magnitude of the disaster, access to many areas is impossible.” Many areas were completely destroyed. “Many dead bodies are still buried beneath the debris. While others have been washed away into the sea,” al-Kharaz told Al Jazeera.
According to Health Minister Othman Abduljalil, the storm also killed over 170 people in other parts of eastern Libya. It is including the cities of Bayda, Susa, Um Razaz, and Marj.
The International Fund for Relief (IFRC) said on Friday that rescue teams combing through the mud and wreckage are still hopeful of finding alive.
