Libyan city buries 700 killed in devastating floods even as 10,000 go missing

Even as rescue teams struggled to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating floods and 10,000 were reported missing, officials said on Tuesday (September 12).

Mediterranean storm Daniel on Sunday (September 10) night wreaked havoc and caused flash flooding in many towns in eastern Libya, but the worst destruction was in Derna where heavy rainfall and floods broke dams and washed away entire neighbourhoods, authorities said.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister in Libya's eastern government. “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts (of the city). Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach,” Abduljaleel added. Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2,000 people may have perished in Derna alone. The Ambulance and Emergency Authority, which coordinates search and rescue efforts, said about 2,300 people died in Derna but did not clarify what that figure was based on.

Tamer Ramadan, Libya envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said 10,000 people were missing after the unprecedented flooding. Speaking to reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva via videoconference from Tunisia, he said the death toll was “huge” and expected to reach into the thousands in the coming days.

Trail of destruction

Referring to Friday's devastating earthquake in Morocco, on the other side of North Africa, Ramadan said the situation in Libya was “as devastating as the situation in Morocco”. Ossama Hamad, prime minister of the government in eastern Libya, said that many of the missing were believed to have been carried away after two upstream dams burst. He said the devastation in Derna is far beyond the capabilities of his country.

After more than a decade of chaos, Libya remains divided between two rival administrations: one in the east and one in the west, each backed by different militias and foreign governments. The conflict has left the oil-rich North African country with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure.

Derna has been declared a disaster zone and more bodies are still under the rubble in the city's neighbourhoods, or washed away to the sea, Abduljaleel said.

Call for intervention

Residents posted videos online showing major devastation. Entire residential blocks were erased along Wadi Derna, a river that runs down from the mountains through the city centre. Multi-story apartment buildings that once stood well back from the river were partially collapsed into mud.

Abduljaleel said the city was inaccessible and bodies were scattered all over, according to Libya's state-run news agency. “The situation was more significant and worse than we expected... An international intervention is needed,” he was quoted as saying.

Emergency responders, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents were digging through rubble to recover the dead. They also used inflatable boats to retrieve bodies from the water. Excavators and other equipment have yet to arrive in Derna.

Wall of water

Many residents described scenes of chaos when floods hit the centre. They heard loud explosions at night and realised that dams outside the city collapsed, sending a wall of water that “erased everything in its way,” said Ahmed Abdalla, a Derna resident.

Workers said they buried more than 200 bodies in one cemetery on Monday (September 11). Footage overnight showed dozens more bodies on the ground, covered by blankets or sheets, in a hospital yard in Derna.

The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. The Medical Centre of Bayda, the main hospital, was flooded and patients had to be evacuated, according to video footage shared by the centre on Facebook.

Other towns that suffered included Susa, Marj and Shahatt, according to the government. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in the city of Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

Northeast Libya is one of the country's most fertile and green regions. The Jabal al-Akhdar area – where Bayda, Marj and Shahatt are located – has one of the country's highest average annual rainfalls, according to the World Bank.

Humanitarian aid

Authorities in eastern and western Libya rushed to help Derna residents. The Health Ministry in Tripoli said a plane carrying 14 tonnes of medical equipment, drugs and body bags, along with health care workers headed to Benghazi on Tuesday. Other agencies across the country said they would send humanitarian aid to Derna.

Various countries sent messages of support to Libya. Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates were among those which said they would send humanitarian assistance and teams to help with search and rescue efforts. The US Embassy said on Monday (September 11) it was contacting the United Nations and Libyan authorities on how to deliver aid to the most affected areas.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi convened his military commanders on Tuesday (September 12) to arrange urgent assistance to Libya. He said in televised comments that the military would deploy equipment and personnel in coordination with eastern Libyan forces to help affected communities.

Warring groups

Known for its white-painted houses and palm gardens, Derna is about 900 km (560 miles) east of the capital of Tripoli. It is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter, who is allied with the east Libya government. The rival government in west Libya, based in Tripoli, is allied with other armed groups.

Much of Derna was built by Italy when Libya was under Italian occupation in the first half of the 20th century. The city was once a hub for extremist groups in the years long chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

(With agency inputs)