Flooding in Libya caused by storm Daniel has left more than 2,000 people dead and thousands missing, the head of the executive controlling the east of the country said on Monday, September 11. “There are thousands of people missing and over 2,000 dead,” he said. Osama Hamad was speaking in a telephone interview with local TV station Al Massar. He did not specify the source of this death toll, which could be much higher for the whole country.
The destruction appeared greatest in Derna, a city formerly held by Islamic extremists in the chaos that has gripped Libya for more than a decade and left it with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure. Libya remains divided between two rival administrations, one in the east and one in the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.
The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday, according to health authorities. But the tally did not include Derna, which had become inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters.