Tripoli [Libya], September 15: The death toll from devastating floods that struck eastern Libya could reach 20,000 in the city of Derna alone, the mayor said.
"We expect a very big number of victims. It can reach 18,000 to 20,000 deaths based on the destroyed districts in Derna," Mayor Abdulmenam Al Ghaithi told the Al Arabiya channel late on Wednesday.
A -Ghaithi said the city was suffering a humanitarian disaster due to the massive floods that followed a heavy storm in eastern Libya last weekend.
Two dams in the mountains above Derna collapsed.
While rescue workers and relatives continue to search for survivors, about 10,000 people were reported missing, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The flooding in eastern Libya has also left more than 30,000 people homeless, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration, particularly in Derna.
Meanwhile, the United Nations announced $10mn in emergency aid for Libya on Thursday. Preventing the spread of disease is the most immediate task, UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said in Geneva, with an appeal for further donations to follow.
"The scale of the flood disaster in Libya is shocking and it is heartbreaking. Entire neighbourhoods have been wiped off the map," Griffiths, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters. "Whole families, taken by surprise, were swept away in the deluge of water. Thousands have died, tens of thousands are now homeless and many more remain unaccounted for."
The European Union is also providing emergency assistance to Libya, the European Commission announced.
France offered a medical team of 53 people, Italy is sending specialist divers and heavy disaster machinery, while the Netherlands is providing technical experts, the commission said. The German Air Force plans to deliver relief supplies as soon as possible, with two German transport planes taking off from the Wunstorf Air Base with supplies including mattresses, tents, blankets, cots and generators, the air force said.
Derna's mayor summed up the Two dams in the mountains above Derna collapsed, triggering allegations of years-long neglect and a lack of maintenance.
Abdul-Hamid Dbeibeh, head of one of two rival governments in conflict-ridden Libya, said on Thursday that maintenance contracts for both dams were found to have not been completed despite money being allocated. "The matter is being investigated by the prosecutor-general," he told a government meeting.
The flooding in eastern Libya has also left more than 30,000 people homeless.
Source: Qatar Tribune
