Devastating Libyan death toll expected to multiply with 10,000 missing
3 Min Read
Nations have mobilized to aid Libya after Storm Daniel swept through Derna, Libya, washing away multi-story buildings and entire families.
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A boy pulls a suitcase past debris in a flash-flood damaged area in Derna, eastern Libya, on September 11, 2023. (AFP)
The death toll from the storm that resulted in a massive flood in Derna, Libya, is expected to rise past 5,300 as more than 10,000 people remain missing.
The flood came as a result of heavy rains, generated by Storm Daniel, which filled dams located above the city and burst them. This led to flash floods on Monday where entire buildings were swept away by the current along with thousands of residents of Derna.
The two strong currents killed at least 5,300 people so far and pushed people right into the Mediterranean Sea, as victims washed up on Libya's shore on Wednesday.
Furthermore, 10,000 people are still missing, said Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
"The death toll is huge and might reach thousands. The number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons so far."
Another 30,000 have reportedly been displaced by the calamity as rescue teams from several countries rush to help victims in Libya.
Read more: Death toll in Libya's Derna exceeds 5,300 people
Rescue efforts ensue
Teams from Turkey have arrived in eastern Libya, while Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, France, and Italy have also pledged to offer assistance.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian Rapid Response and Rescue Team departed from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and headed to Libya to take part in the rescue missions.
Kuwait sent a plane carrying 40 tonnes of supplies, and Jordan sent a military plane loaded with food parcels, tents, blankets, and mattresses.
The United Arab Emirates deployed two planes carrying 150 tonnes of food, relief, and medical supplies to Benghazi, while France said it would send a field hospital and around 50 military and civilian personnel.
The country was invaded by NATO forces back in 2011 in a concentrated effort by the West to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi and has since then gone through extreme political turmoil, leading to infrastructural neglect and general chaos in governmental institutions.
The "sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies", Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, told Reuters by phone.
"We have counted more than 5,300 dead so far, and the number is likely to increase significantly and may even double because the number of missing people is also thousands," he said, which speaks to the nature of the disaster that took place in Libya.
