The death toll from the floods that hit the city of Derna, in eastern Libya, has surpassed 5,000 and is expected to continue rising, a local humanitarian source said on Wednesday.
According to Emad al-Falah, a Benghazi-based humanitarian quoted by the Associated Press (AP), local authorities continue to struggle to transport aid to Derna, a coastal city, where thousands of people remain missing and tens of thousands have been displaced.
Humanitarian workers who managed to reach the city, which was isolated on Sunday evening when flash floods destroyed most access roads, described a scene of devastation in the city center.
Search and rescue teams, continued al-Falah, contacted by phone by AP, are scouring destroyed apartment buildings for bodies, while also recovering bodies floating in the water.
“The bodies are everywhere: in the houses, on the streets, in the sea. Wherever you go, you find dead men, women and children. Entire families have been lost,” al-Falah reported from Derna, about 900 kilometers away. to the east. from Tripoli.
Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many eastern Libyan cities, but Derna was hardest hit.
As the storm raged along the coast on Sunday, residents said they heard loud explosions as dams collapsed on the outskirts of the city.
The flood waters have significantly increased the flow of the Wadi Derna, a river that flows from the mountains, crosses the city and empties into the sea.
“Derna was submerged by seven-meter waves that destroyed everything in their path. The death toll is enormous,” Yann Fridez, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Libya, told broadcaster France24.
Derna is located on a narrow coastal plain in the Mediterranean, beneath steep mountains that hug the coast.
There are only two roads to use from the south, and these involve a long and winding route through the mountains.
Emergency teams with some supplies were able to enter that way, but local responders relied on the equipment they had on hand. The collapsed bridges divide the city center, making movement even more difficult.
Ossama Ali, spokesman for the ambulance and emergency center in eastern Libya, also told the AP that at least 5,100 deaths have been recorded in Derna, along with about 100 others in eastern Libya. However, a government source still admits only 3,840 deaths.
More than 7,000 people were injured in the city, with the majority treated in field hospitals set up by authorities and humanitarian aid groups, Ali also told the AP.
The death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue teams continue to collect bodies from the streets, buildings and sea, he added.
At least 30,000 people in Derna have been displaced by the floods, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The damage is so extensive that the city is virtually inaccessible to humanitarian workers, according to the organization that is part of the United Nations system.
Source: DN
