2,000 died, 6,000 missed in Libya’s flood
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – More than 2,000 people died and about 6,000 went missing following a massive flood that ripped through the port city of Derna in eastern Libya on Monday.
“The disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, sweeping whole neighborhoods with their residents into the sea,” said Ahmad Mismari, spokesperson for the Libyan National Army (LNA) that controls eastern Libya.
Libya, a country of six million people, is politically divided between east and west and public services have crumbled since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that prompted years of conflict. The internationally recognized government in Tripoli does not control eastern areas.
“After the dam collapse, all of the water headed to an area near Derna, which is a mountainous coastal area,” Head of Libya’s Emergency and Ambulance authority, Osama Aly, told CNN.
“The weather conditions were not studied well, the seawater levels and rainfall [were not studied], the wind speeds, there was no evacuation of families that could be in the path of the storm and in valleys,” Aly said.
Head of Libya’s eastern parliament-backed government, Osama Hamad, described the situation as “catastrophic and unprecedented,” according to a report from state news organization Libyan News Agency (LANA).