At least 5,200 people have died in the devastating storm in Libya, a spokesman said. The figures could not initially be independently confirmed. As rescuers and relatives search for survivors, about 10,000 people are missing, according to the Red Cross.
According to rescuers, more than 2,300 people died in the port city of Darna alone. A spokesman for Libya’s emergency and rescue services said on Tuesday that around 7,000 more people were injured.
Storm ‘Daniel’, which had already caused heavy destruction in Greece, hit the North African country with around seven million inhabitants on Sunday. The port city of Darna is particularly hard hit. Videos and photos on social media showed a catastrophic scale: destroyed houses and cars on streets flooded with mud.
According to eyewitness accounts, the strong winds caused electricity poles to topple. In the middle of the night, a dam not far from the coastal town burst with a loud bang. Eventually, a second dam gave way to the masses of water that thundered from the valley towards Darna. It is said that monuments, houses and people have been washed into the sea.
“There are bodies everywhere”
“The situation is very catastrophic. There are bodies everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings,” said the aviation minister of the eastern ruling government, Hichem Chkiuat. He expects the final number of victims to be “very, very high.” “I am not exaggerating when I say that 25 percent of the city has disappeared.”
More than 300 victims were buried in mass graves near Darna. “Those whose identities were established were buried first,” said an eyewitness. “Due to the power outage and lack of space for the bodies, the other dead were photographed and then buried so they could be identified later.” The victims are said to include entire families who were buried together.
A civil war is raging in Libya
The affected areas were declared disaster areas. The government in the capital Tripoli under Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbaiba spoke of the heaviest rainfall in more than forty years. Three days of national mourning were declared on Monday. The catastrophe initially appeared to bring the civil war-torn country together, aides said.
Two opposing governments – one based in the east and the other in the west – are currently vying for power. All diplomatic attempts to peacefully resolve the civil war, which continues to this day, have so far failed. The conflict is further fueled by foreign states. State order in the country has largely collapsed and numerous conflict parties are vying for influence after former ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi was violently overthrown in 2011.
Source: Krone
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