The death toll in the floods that occurred in the Libyan coastal city of Derna, in the east of the country, has risen to 11,300 people and search and rescue operations continue, the Libyan Red Crescent reported this Thursday.
According to the general secretary of the non-governmental organization, Marie el-Drese, there are another 10,100 people reported missing in that city.
Thousands of people were buried in mass graves in Derna, authorities said on Thursday, as search teams continued to examine the ruins left by the devastating floods and the mayor said the death toll could triple.
The floods, fed by two faulty dams, swept away entire families on Sunday night and exposed the vulnerabilities of the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since a 2011 uprising toppled dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
The previous report indicated that there were 6,872 deaths in Derna, the city most affected by the floods in Libya.
According to data from the United Nations Emergency Response Fund, there are, in total, 884 thousand people who need assistance due to the floods, of which 250 thousand need urgent and immediate help to survive, the UN indicated in its conference daily Press.
The organization has already released ten million dollars from its emergency fund to provide essential goods to victims of the floods in Libya and try to prevent a health crisis that could be caused by the high number of deaths outdoors, the lack of drinking water or other factors, explained the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths.
Preventing the emergence of an epidemic and “rapidly restoring some form of normality must take priority over any other concern in these difficult times for Libya,” he said.
“Entire neighborhoods were wiped off the map. Entire families, taken by surprise, were swept away by the deluge. Thousands of people died, tens of thousands were left homeless and many more remain in unknown places,” recalled the humanitarian official.
Source: TSF
