20,000 Feared Dead After Libyan Floods
A Libyan official in the port city of Derna has told journalists that the death toll from the floods could reach 20,000.
The Libyan city was flooded when 2 dam walls burst this week following a storm which hit Libya on Sunday. The storm brought more than 400mm of rain within 24 hours.
The burst dams are saying to have released more than 1.5 million cubic metres of water (1.5 million tonnes) down in the city at one go.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization has however said that most of the thousands of deaths in the Libya floods could have been avoided.
So far, 5,300 are confirmed dead. Some unrecovered bodies are reportedly under building rubble and in the sea. The bodies are said to be rotting and causing strong stenches and the risk of disease.
Libya is governed by two rival governments – one based in the capital city of Tripoli and another in a city called Tobruk in the east. The are several milia groups that claiming control of some parts of the country. Conflict has been the situation since the ouster of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi 10 years ago.
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah leads the UN-backed Government of National Unity in Tripoli.
