2,300 Killed, 10,000 Missing As Tsunami-Like Flood Hits Libya
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Libya floods – live: Fears death toll could ‘double’ as tens of thousand missing after river ‘tsunami
No fewer than 2,300 have been killed and about 10,000 people are reported missing after Storm Daniel hit Derna City in Libya.
More than 2, 000 bodies have been found in the Libyan city of Derna as the toll is expected to increase significantly from 5,000 presumed and may even double, a minister in the regional administration has said after the city was hit by catastrophic floods. The “sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies”, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, told Reuters, adding that reconstruction would cost billions of dollars.
This is according to the ambulance authority in Derna and the Red Crescent, BBC News reported.
The tsunami-like flood which happened on Sunday, September 10 collapsed two dams and four bridges. The Red Crescent said the death toll is expected to rise further as rescue teams are struggling to retrieve the bodies of victims that have been swept out to the sea.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation and member of the emergency committee in the administration that controls the east of Libya, described apocalyptic scenes.
He said: ‘I returned from Derna. It is very disastrous. Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings.
‘The number of bodies recovered in Derna is more 1,000.
‘I am not exaggerating when I say that 25% of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed.’
He later added that the dam had not been properly maintained for some time, telling the BBC: ‘I was shocked by what I saw, it’s like a tsunami.
‘A massive neighbourhood has been destroyed – there is a large number of victims, which is increasing each hour.
