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Libyan officials say more than 5,300 bodies have been recovered from eastern Libyan cities after flooding destroyed buildings, roads and bridges.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, civil aviation minister in the eastern Libyan government, told Reuters the death toll was expected to rise as “dozens of bodies continue to be dumped into the sea” in Derna, on Libya’s Mediterranean coast.
The city of 100,000 was among the worst hit after Storm Daniel hit the North African country over the weekend. Flooding in Derna, exacerbated by the collapse of two dams, sent torrents of water through the city and devastated the entire region, officials said.
Libya is a dysfunctional country with rival governments in the east and west, and officials have given varying death tolls as they search for bodies hidden under rubble and dirt. But thousands are believed to have died. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Tuesday that 10,000 people were believed to be missing.
Officials said rescuers were having difficulty reaching parts of Derna because main roads had been washed out and turned into rivers. Power and communications in the city were also cut off.
Videos and images posted on social media showed the massive destruction, with buildings reduced to rubble and vehicles overturned. Bodies in plastic body bags lined the ground.
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The International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday that flooding had displaced more than 30,000 people.
Libya has been plagued by chaos and conflict for years since dictator Muammer Gaddafi was overthrown following a popular uprising in 2011. It turned into a civil war as rival factions carved up the oil-rich country into a patchwork of fiefdoms.
The country has competing governments in the capital, Tripoli, and in eastern Libya, which for years has been under the control of renegade general Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army.
This division spilled over into public institutions, leaving the country weak and divided. Western countries generally refrain from engaging with eastern governments because the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli is considered the internationally recognized authority.
The United Nations humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said on social media that the storm “claimed thousands of lives” and that the United Nations was allocating $10 million in emergency funds to support relief efforts.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Washington was providing emergency funding to disaster relief agencies.
Turkey has dispatched three cargo planes to the city of Benghazi, carrying 168 search and rescue experts as well as other aid supplies such as tents, generators, raincoats and flashlights. Neighboring Egypt also said it would send soldiers and helicopters to assist with recovery efforts.
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