The sheer numbers of people dead or unaccounted for in the Libyan city of Derna is overwhelming survivors, who say they had minutes to get away before the coastal city was devastated by a tsunami-like torrent.
Sky News TV crews have reached the port city where people have been using their bare hands to dig for loved ones. Reports suggest almost a quarter of the city has been washed away and reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland, following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains.
Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir, reporting from one of the dams that collapsed, said it is now known as “the dam of death”. She said though it has been days since the disaster struck, residents are still in a complete state of shock – with some survivors coming to the site to look at the catastrophic scale of the tragedy the dam unleashed on them in a matter of moments.
“The flood has completely changed their lives. One person told me: ‘This is not a natural disaster, this is a catastrophe’,” she said.
Untold numbers could be buried under drifts of mud and debris across the city, including overturned cars and chunks of concrete, meters high. Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from the centre of Derna, near the port, said the eastern Libyan city was like “one big graveyard” – a mass of wrecked lives, flattened buildings, and upended vehicles. Vast multi-story buildings have been ripped off their foundations and smothered by volumes of mud.
“Everywhere you look here – it’s 360° destruction,” she said. “There is a strong smell in the air of corpses.” “The force of the water was so strong from the two dams which collapsed that the locals say it sounded like an explosion, after the explosion, after the explosion,” said Crawford. “Massive tonnes of rocks, whole apartment blocks, just swept away. There are three bridges that have been swept away. Building after building has been levelled or smashed through.
“They had – according to those who survived – about 20 minutes to get out of the away of this torrent of water.” She added: “As we walk through the mountains of rubble, boulders, and rocks, we have to keep reminding ourselves these were once people’s homes, this was once a street packed with shops and malls. Even the road is non-existent. “There is no sign of any significant international aid here at all. There is very little evidence of any Libyan aid workers.”
The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure and has made it difficult for rescuers and humanitarian groups to reach stricken areas. People searching for relatives say they had plenty of warning about Storm Daniel before it hit, but then followed a catastrophic culmination of human error. Gandi Mohammed Hammoud, a structural engineer, said it was down to negligence, adding plenty of warnings had been issued by experts about the poor state of the city’s two dams. “They should have known,” he told Sky News, as he looked aghast at the death and destruction.
He said he watched as his neighbors and friends screamed in terror as the torrent of water tore apart their homes and flats. “Then it went silent – which means they died,” he said. “We saw some friends literally being swept away in front of us.” He added: “Someone should pay for these deaths. Someone should be held accountable for what happened here.”
A UN official has said most casualties could have been avoided. “If there would have been a normal operating meteorological service, they could have issued the warnings,” World Meteorological Organization (WMO) head Petteri Taalas told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.
“The emergency management authorities would have been able to carry out the evacuation of the people, and we could have avoided most of the human casualties.”
Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst hit was Derna. Those in the region are calling it a disaster of “biblical proportions” – with the number of fatalities soaring to 11,300, according to the Libyan Red Crescent.
However, the number killed is still not known.
Marie el-Drese, secretary-general of the aid group, said a further 10,100 people have been reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Morgues are full in hospitals and are overwhelmed as people race to bury the dead. Most of the dead have been buried in mass graves outside Derna, while others are being transferred to nearby towns and cities.
Rescue and relief operations have been complicated by political divides in the country.
The flooding swept away entire families and communities on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country, which has been at war since a 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Despite a 2020 ceasefire that ended most major warfare, allowing roads and flights to reopen, the territory remains controlled by rival armed factions.
An internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) is based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration operates in the east, including Derna.
“The instability, poor governance, corruption, and mafia-style politicking including a network of people-smuggling gangs has all conspired to make this tragedy,” Crawford added.
(With inputs from Sky News)
