3,000 dead and 10,000 believed missing in Libya as catastrophic flooding breaks dams

At least 3,000 people died and 10,000 are missing after Storm Daniel caused heavy rains in northeastern Libya, causing two dams to collapse, sending water into already flooded areas.

Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Libya, gave the number of missing people at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday. “The death toll is huge,” she said.

 

Of the dead, at least 145 were Egyptians, officials in the northeastern Libyan city of Tobruk said on Tuesday.

In the eastern town of Derna, which was the hardest hit, up to 6,000 people were missing, Othman Abduljalil, health minister of Libya’s eastern government, told Libyan broadcaster Almasar. He described the situation as “disastrous” during a tour of the city on Monday.

According to authorities, entire neighborhoods of the city will be swept away by water.

Osama Aly, a spokesman for emergency and ambulance services, said hospitals in Derna were no longer operating and the morgue was full.