A quarter of a Libyan city was wiped out by a dam burst and floods.

"I returned from Derna. It was a disaster. There were bodies everywhere - on the beach, in the valley, under buildings," said Hichem Chkiouat, Libya's Minister of Civil Aviation.

“The number of bodies found in Derna is more than 1,000,” he said. He expected the final toll to be “really huge. I am not exaggerating when I say 25% of the city is gone. Many, many buildings have collapsed.”

This image from video broadcast by Libya's Al-Masar TV shows widespread flooding in the town of Marj on September 11, 2023.

A road damaged by floods in Shahhat city, Libya on September 11, 2023. Photo: Reuters

A street devastated by floods in Derna, Libya on September 11, 2023. Photo: AP

Officials in the government that runs the eastern part of the divided country said on Monday that at least 2,000 people had died in the floods, although they did not specify the basis for that estimate.

Thousands more are missing as floods swept away entire neighborhoods after dams across the city burst, officials said. Video shared on social media showed dozens of bodies covered with blankets on the pavement in Derna.

Libya is politically divided between East and West, with public services collapsing since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 sparked years of conflict.

After devastating Greece last week, Storm Daniel swept across the Mediterranean on Sunday, flooding roads and destroying buildings in Derna, and hitting other areas along the coast, including Libya's second-largest city of Benghazi.

Location of two areas severely affected by flooding. Photo: Mapbox

The internationally recognised government in Tripoli controls parts of the country's west but has sent aid to Derna in the east, with at least one relief flight departing from the city of Misrata on Tuesday.

The head of Libya's Government of National Unity, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, said the emergency medical supply plane, carrying 14 tons of supplies, medicine, equipment, body bags and 87 medical and paramedic personnel, was heading to Benghazi.

Germany, Egypt, Qatar, Iran and Italy are among the countries that have said they are ready to send aid. The US also said it is coordinating with UN partners and Libyan authorities on how to support relief efforts.

Former acting UN special envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, called for swift foreign aid, saying the disaster "requires an urgent ramp-up of international and regional support" in a post on X.

Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, CNN, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/vo-dap-va-lu-lut-khien-1-4-thanh-pho-o-libya-bi-xoa-so-hon-1000-thi-the-duoc-tim-thay-post264323.html