Libya floods: Death toll in eastern city of Derna surpasses 5,100, says health official
The death toll from a violent flood in Libya’s eastern city of Derna has risen to more than 5,100, a health official said on Wednesday.
Teams of volunteers have been working around the clock since Sunday night when a huge storm caused two dams to burst — sweeping away hundreds of buildings. Around 10,000 people are still missing.
Emergency workers uncovered more than 1,500 bodies in the wreckage of Libya’s eastern city of Derna on Tuesday.
Satellite images showing the before and after of the floods highlight the extent of the devastation in a city of more than 120,000 inhabitants.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the tragedy has left at least 30,000 displaced and left to fend for themselves in a state ravaged by a decade of civil war and divided into two warring political entities.
As such, it is the residents who are primarily responsible for burying the victims, the overwhelming majority in mass graves.
