Flood disaster in Libya leaves at least 2,000 dead and 10,000 missing

CNN news agency on the afternoon of September 12 quoted the statement of the Minister of Health of the Eastern Libyan government, Mr. Othman Abduljalil, saying that among the missing victims, the city of Derna alone, the most severely affected place, had up to 6,000 people and the floods had made part of this place look like a "ghost town".

According to Mr. Abduljalil, the situation in the country is currently dire, many families are still trapped in their homes and there are victims under the rubble, bodies of victims are lying everywhere and many people may have been swept out to sea.

On the same day, Libyan Civil Aviation Minister and member of the emergency rescue committee, Hichem Chkiouat, added that more than 1,000 bodies have been found in Derna so far.

Earlier, on the afternoon of September 10, Storm Daniel made landfall in Libya, causing heavy rains, causing two dams in Derna to break at the same time, creating a strong current that swept away many houses, wiping out entire residential areas along the river flowing from the mountains to the city center.

In addition to Derma, flooding affected several other cities including Al-Bayda, Al-Marj, Tobruk, Takenis, Al-Bayada and Battah, as well as the eastern coastal region as far as Benghazi.

Libya, a country of 6 million people, has been divided between warring factions since the 2011 coup that toppled leader Moamer Gadhafi.

Currently, there are two governments in this country with their own armed forces.

The two governments have decided to observe three days of mourning to commemorate the victims who died in the disaster.