Storm, floods kill at least 35 people in eastern Libya - medical sources
World
Storm, floods kill at least 35 people in eastern Libya - medical sources
BENGHAZHI (Reuters) - A powerful storm and heavy floods have killed at least 35 people in eastern Libya over the last two days with the death toll expected to rise as dozens more are missing, medical sources said on Monday.
Footage on social media showed people stranded on the roofs of their vehicles as Storm Daniel hit the cities of Benghazi, Sousse, Al Bayda, Al-Marj and Derna.
"We were asleep, and when we woke up, we found water besieging the house. We are inside and trying to get out," Derna resident Ahmed Mohamed told Reuters by phone on Monday.
The missing include seven members of the Libyan National Army (LNA), a force led by Khalifa Haftar which controls the eastern part of the divided country, LNA spokesman Ahmad Mismari said.
Heavy floods washed away vehicles, footage broadcast by a eastern Libya's Almostkbal TV showed. The channel also posted pictures of a collapsed road between Sousse and Shahat, the home to the Greek-founded and UNESCO-listed archaeological site Cyrene.
Witnesses said the water level had reached three metres (10 feet) in the coastal city of Derna.
Libya's eastern-based parliament declared three days of mourning. Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, prime minister of the interim government in Tripoli, also declared three days of mourning in all the affected cities, calling them "disaster areas".
Four major oil ports in Libya, Ras Lanuf, Zueitina, Brega and Es Sidra, were closed from Saturday evening for three days, two oil engineers told Reuters.
Search-and-rescue operations were ongoing, witnesses said. Authorities declared a state of extreme emergency, closing schools and stores and imposing a curfew.
Though his administration holds little sway in eastern Libya, Dbeibah said on Sunday he had directed all state agencies to “immediately deal” with the damage and floods in eastern cities.
Dbeibah's government is recognised by the Central Bank of Libya, which disburses funds to government departments across the country.
The United Nations in Libya said it was following the storm closely and would "provide urgent relief assistance in support of response efforts at local and national levels".
