The death toll from Libya’s floods has risen to 11,300 people

At least 11,300 people are now believed to have died after torrential waters ravaged eastern Libya – a devastating toll that could have been largely avoided, global officials said on Thursday.

Another 10,100 have been reported missing in the devastated city of Derna, Mary Al-Drees, secretary-general of the Libyan Red Crescent, told The Associated Press by phone. Earlier, city officials said the death toll could reach 20,000 people.

Accurately counting the growing number of dead is extremely difficult given the level of destruction and the chaotic political situation in the region, where bodies continue to wash up on shore and are buried in mass graves.

As rescuers searched underwater and under rubble, fears grew that rotting corpses could spark an outbreak of deadly diseases in the wake of this week’s floods.

The death toll could still rise

Heavy rainfall from Mediterranean Storm Daniel has caused two dams to collapse, sending waves more than 20 feet high through the heart of the coastal city of Derna in the east of the country.

Ambulance service spokesman Osama Ali told NBC News that more than 7,000 residents were injured in the disaster.

Numbers have varied depending on which official provided them, although everyone estimates the number of dead in the thousands, and the mayor of Derna said the number could more than triple as search teams and survivors find more bodies under the rubble.

“The situation is very big and surprising for the city of Derna. Mayor Abdel Moneim Al-Ghaithi told Sky News Arabia on Wednesday evening: “We were unable to confront it with our capabilities that preceded the storm and torrent.”

His office said the death toll could reach 20,000, about a fifth of the city’s population, based on estimates from those living in the washed-out areas.

The UN weather and climate agency said on Thursday that most of the deaths could have been avoided if authorities had better warning systems.

“They could have issued warnings, emergency management forces could have evacuated people, and we could have avoided most of the casualties,” World Meteorological Organization head Petteri Taalas told reporters. Geneva, according to Agence France-Presse.

an agency He said this week It issued warnings 72 hours before the dams collapsed, including contacting the Libyan authorities and making statements to the media. This led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the North African country.

One day before the storm hit Libya, the mayor said in a press conference that some areas surrounding the dam must be evacuated. But an emergency committee formed by the Ministry of Interior in the eastern government ordered a curfew instead.

A spokesman for the mayor also said that the city’s dam had not been maintained since 2008 due to divided Libyan politics.

Mohamed Al-Menfi, head of the Libyan Presidential Council, said on the social networking site X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday that the country’s public prosecutor would open an investigation into any possible negligence that contributed to the disaster.

As some seek to find someone to bear responsibility for the disaster, a humanitarian catastrophe is also unfolding for the survivors.

Fears are increasing about the spread of waterborne diseases in the area, especially with the continued flow of rotting corpses to the beach. “Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities will be essential to prevent another crisis within a crisis,” Elie Abu Aoun, country director for the International Rescue Committee in Libya, said in a statement on Wednesday.

About 30,000 people have been displaced from Derna, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency.

Satellite images showed the huge scale of devastation caused by the floods. A government official estimated Wednesday that 25% of the city was completely destroyed or washed away.

Rescue teams have arrived from neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, along with crews from Turkey, Italy and elsewhere.

But their efforts were hampered by the destruction of roads and the blackout of electricity and communications in the city.

Othman Abdel Jalil, Minister of Health in the government of eastern Libya, said that divers are searching the seawater off the coast of Derna.

He added that according to Islamic tradition, which requires burying bodies as quickly as possible, more than 3,000 bodies have already been placed in mass graves.

Hope of finding survivors has all but vanished as the massive clean-up and recovery operation begins.

The Tripoli Public Services Company began removing rubble in the formerly densely populated city center of Derna on Wednesday in an ongoing, around-the-clock operation, Libya’s state news agency reported.

Its employees are divided into three teams: a team to remove debris that may have trapped victims, a team to pump out stagnant water, and a team to reopen paths by removing collapsed buildings and cars swept away by floods.

The massive task of providing immediate aid and then rebuilding Derna is complicated by the legacy of a decade of civil conflict, which has left two rival governments ruling eastern and western Libya.

Derna is under the control of the Libyan National Army, which is run by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and is stationed in the eastern city of Tobruk. The rest of the country is administered by the National Unity Government, based in the capital, Tripoli, in the west.

This division has hampered reconstruction efforts for years – although aid workers say the two sides are now talking to each other.

“The two governments have reached out to the international community to request services and assistance,” said Tawhid Pasha, of the International Organization for Migration. BBC Radio Wednesday night.

He added, “The National Unity Government extended its support to us and our request on behalf of the entire country, and it is also coordinating with the government of the East.”