The death toll after the floods that hit the city of Derna, in eastern Libya, has exceeded five thousand and is expected to continue rising, a local humanitarian source said on Wednesday.
According to Emad al-Falah, a Benghazi aid worker cited by the Associated Press (AP), local authorities continue to have difficulty transporting aid to Derna, a coastal city, where thousands of people remain missing and tens of thousands are displaced.
Aid workers who managed to reach the city, which was cut off on Sunday night when flash floods destroyed most of the access roads, described a scene of devastation in the city centre.
Search and rescue teams, continued Al Falah, contacted by phone by AP, are searching destroyed apartment buildings for bodies, while recovering bodies floating in the water.
“The bodies are everywhere, inside the houses, in the streets, in the sea. Wherever you go, you will find dead men, women and children. Entire families have been lost,” reported Al Falah, from Derna, about 900 kilometers to the east. from Tripoli.
Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many cities in eastern Libya, but the worst affected was Derna.
As the storm hit the coast on Sunday, residents said they heard loud explosions as dams on the outskirts of the city collapsed.
The flood waters substantially increased the flow of the Wadi Derna, a river that originates in the mountains, crosses the city and empties into the sea.
“Derna was submerged by seven-meter-high waves that destroyed everything in their path. The death toll is enormous,” Yann Fridez, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Libya, told the France24 radio station.
Derna is situated on a narrow Mediterranean coastal plain, beneath steep mountains running along the coast.
Only two roads can be used from the south, which involve a long and winding road through the mountains.
Relief teams with some supplies were able to enter that route, but local emergency workers relied on the equipment they had on hand. Collapsed bridges divide the city center, making movement even more difficult.
Also speaking to the AP, Ossama Ali, spokesman for the Emergency and Ambulance Center in eastern Libya, said at least 5,100 deaths were recorded in Derna, along with around 100 others in eastern Libya.
More than 7,000 people were injured in the city, most receiving treatment in field hospitals set up by authorities and humanitarian aid agencies, Ali also told the AP.
The death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue teams continue to collect bodies from streets, buildings and the sea, he added.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 30,000 people in Derna were displaced by the floods.
The damage is so extensive that the city is almost inaccessible to humanitarian workers, said the agency that is part of the United Nations system.
Source: TSF
