Libya storm death toll expected to swell as sea washes bodies ashore
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[September 13, 2023]
By Ayman al-Warfali and Ahmed Elumami
NEAR DERNA, Libya (Reuters) -Bodies were washing ashore in eastern Libya
on Wednesday, swelling the death toll from a storm that swept whole
neighborhoods out to sea, with thousands already confirmed dead and many
thousands more still missing.
The flood torrent, unleashed by a powerful storm on Sunday night that
burst dams, obliterated around a quarter or the Mediterranean city of
Derna. Whole multi-storey buildings were swept away with sleeping
families inside.
The "sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies", Hichem Abu Chkiouat,
minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern
Libya, told Reuters by phone.
"We have counted more than 5,300 dead so far, and the number is likely
to increase significantly and may even double because the number of
missing people is also thousands," he added.
Tens of thousands of people had been made homeless, he said, appealing
for international aid and adding that Libya did not have the experience
to deal with the aftermath of such a disaster.
Officials say at least 10,000 people are feared missing or dead, though
tolls confirmed dead so far vary. Tariq Kharaz, a spokesperson for the
eastern authorities, said 3,200 bodies had been recovered, and 1,100 of
them had yet to be identified.
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The U.N. migration agency, the International Organization for Migration,
said at least 30,000 people had been displaced in Derna.
The devastation was clear from high points above Derna, where the
densely populated city centre, built along a seasonal riverbed, was now
a wide, flat crescent of muddy water, gleaming in the sun, all its
building swept away.
At a hospital, scores of bodies wrapped in blankets were laid out on the
floor in corridors or outside on the pavement, for residents to try to
identify them.
Mustafa Salem said his entire family lived near the river valley
opposite a mosque. They were asleep when the flood hit, and no one has
been found alive.
"We are all neighbors. We lost 30 people so far, 30 members of the same
family," he told Reuters. "We haven’t found anyone.”
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A view shows damaged cars, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall
hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Esam Omran
Al-Fetori
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As Reuters was on the road to return to the city on Wednesday, aid
convoys and trucks carrying bulldozers could be seen heading in.
Satellite photographs of the city from before and after the disaster
showed that what had been a narrow waterway through the city centre
was now a wide scar, with all the buildings that had run along it
gone. Extensive damage, with buildings missing, was also clearly
visible in other parts of the city.
Rescue operations are complicated by deep political fractures in the
country of 7 million people that has yet to rebuild a strong central
government since the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar
Gaddafi in 2011.
An internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) is
based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration
operates in the east, including Derna.
Libya's Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah called
the floods an unprecedented catastrophe. Libya's Presidential
Council head Mohammed al-Menfi has called for national unity.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said
emergency response teams had been mobilized to help on the ground.
Governments including Qatar and Turkey have rushed aid to Libya.
The United Arab Emirates has sent two aid planes carrying 150 tons
of urgent food, relief and medical supplies to eastern Libya, the
UAE's state news agency WAM reported.
(Additional reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunis, Nayera Abdallah and
Tala Ramadan, Alvise Armellini in Rome; Writing by Tom Perry and
Alastair McDowallEditing by John Stonestreet and Peter Graff)
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