Floods in Libya wipe out quarter of a city, thousands dead

(Patria) - Thousands of people have died, and at least 10,000 are missing in Libya in floods caused by a massive Mediterranean storm "Daniel" that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out a quarter of the city of Derna on the eastern coast.

A senior medic in Derna told Reuters that more than 2,000 people have died, while officials in eastern Libya cited by local television estimate the number at more than 5,000.
In Derna, a city of about 125,000 residents, Reuters journalists saw destroyed neighborhoods, flooded buildings and cars overturned on roofs on streets covered with mud and debris left by a wide torrent after the dams burst.

Mohamad al-Qabisi, director of the Wahda hospital, said that 1,700 people died in one of the city's two districts, and 500 in the other.

"Bodies are lying everywhere - in the sea, in the valleys, under buildings," said Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that controls the east, shortly after visiting Derna.

"I am not exaggerating when I say that 25% of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed."

Local television al-Masar said that the interior minister of the eastern administration said that more than 5,000 people have died. Other eastern cities, including Libya's second-largest city Benghazi, were also affected by the storm.

Tamer Ramadan, head of the delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the death toll would be "enormous".

"From our independent sources of information, we can confirm that the number of missing so far stands at 10,000," he told reporters via a video link.