French rescue workers have set up a field hospital in Libya’s flood-ravaged Derna, while teams from around the world including Russia, Algeria, and Jordan continue to comb through the rubble of damaged buildings in search of survivors a week after two nearby dams collapsed and saw a tsunami-sized flash flood that tear through the city.

A week after a tsunami-sized flash flood devastated the Libyan coastal city of Derna, sweeping thousands to their deaths, the international aid effort to help the grieving survivors slowly gathered pace Sunday. UN Libya envoy Abdoulaye Bathily visited Derna on Saturday, and posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the devastation was "truly heart-wrenching. The massive flood came as Libya was lashed on September 10 by the hurricane-strength Storm Daniel, which had earlier brought deadly floods to Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. Bodies on the beachA week after the disaster, bodies are still washing up on the shore, along with vast amounts of debris. The scale of the devastation in Derna and surrounding areas has prompted shows of solidarity across divided Libya, as volunteers in Tripoli have collected aid for the flood victims.

Local officials, aid agencies and the World Health Organization “are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation”, the United Nations said. Libya’s disease control centre banned citizens in the disaster zone from drinking water from local mains, warning that it is “polluted”. “The buildings, the neighbourhood, the villagers, the sheikhs... the wadi has returned to the state it was 1,000 years ago. Libyan officials and humanitarian groups have warned, however, that the final toll could be much higher, with thousands still missing. On Monday the Tripoli-based government said it launched work to build a temporary bridge that would span the river that cuts through Derna.

A man walks past the rubble of a destroyed building in Libya's eastern city of Derna, Sept. 18, 2023, following deadly flash floods. MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/GettyLibya's disease control center banned citizens in the disaster zone from drinking water from local mains, warning that it is "polluted." Rescue teams walk in a destroyed area in Libya's eastern city of Derna, Sept. 18, 2023, following deadly flash floods. The health minister of the divided country's eastern administration, Othman Abdeljalil, has said 3,283 people were confirmed dead in Derna. On Monday the Tripoli-based government said it launched work to build a temporary bridge that would span the river that cuts through Derna.

Some 11,300 city residents were killed and a further 10,000 people are missing, presumed dead, the country’s Red Crescent said. Haider al-Saeih, head of Libya’s Center for Combating Diseases, said in televised comments Saturday that at least 150 people suffered diarrhea after drinking contaminated water in Derna. Cyrene is one of five Libyan UNESCO World Heritage sites. Also Monday, UNESCO said it was concerned about the state of ruins of Cyrene, an ancient Greco-Roman city that lies roughly 37 miles east of Derna. Cyrene is one of five Libyan UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Experts had long said that floods posed a significant danger to two dams meant to protect nearly 90,000 people in the northeast of Libya. They repeatedly called for immediate maintenance to the two structures, located just uphill from the coastal city of Derna. Neglect and corruption are rife in Libya, a country of about 7 million people that lies on a wealth of proven oil and natural gas reserves. The Derna dam, also known as Belad, is much closer to the city and could hold 1.5 million cubic meters of water. At a news conference in the stricken city, Mr.

A child's cloth doll, with yarn hair and red and gingham clothing, rests amid the rubble in Derna, Libya. After the 2011 France-owned and NATO-led overthrow of the Libyan government and subsequent civil war, Libya turned into what political analysts refer to as a failed state. A family of four, including children, stand on a hill as they look toward the destroyed city of Derna, Libya, with the sea on the horizon. El Hardi kneels next to his dog Rock, amid tangled piles of rubble, water, and some intact buildings, during their search in Derna, Libya. “We’ll start digging here.”

Necessary CookiesThis cookie is used to distinguish between humans and bots. This is beneficial for the web site, in order to make valid reports on the use of their web site. Performance/Analytical CookiesRegisters a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. Accept RejectAdvertising/Marketing CookiesThis cookie is used to collect information on consumer behavior, which is sent to Alexa Analytics. (Alexa Analytics is an Amazon company.)

For many Libyans, the collective grief over the more than 11,000 dead has morphed into a rallying cry for national unity in a country blighted by 12 years of conflict and division. The oil-rich country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014, with an internationally recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east, where Derna is located. "The wound or pain of what happened in Derna hurt all the people from western Libya to southern Libya to eastern Libya," he said. Gen. Khalifa Hifter's forces besieged Tripoli in a yearlong failed military campaign to try to capture the capital, killing thousands. The Prime Minister of Libya's Tripoli government, Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, said he and his ministers were accountable for the dams' maintenance, but not the thousands of deaths caused by the flooding.

State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, CanadaZip Code

People look for survivors in Derna, Libya, Wednesday, Sept.13, 2023. Search teams are combing streets, wrecked buildings, and even the sea to look for bodies in Derna, where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed thousands of people.

To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing, you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.

A week after the flood that swept the centre of the city of Derna into the sea, families are still coping with the unbearable losses of their dead - and haunted by the unknown fates of the missing. The centre of Derna is a wasteland, with stray dogs standing listlessly on muddy mounds where buildings once stood. Western countries and regional states have sent teams of rescue workers and mobile hospitals. Five Greek rescue workers, including three members of the armed forces, were killed in a car crash on Sunday. "Contaminated water can lead to the spread of waterborne diseases, putting vulnerable populations, especially women and children, at increased risk."

A man from Sanford, Maine, was found after his pickup got stuck in a mud pit, trapping him inside for two days. Robert Brown, 65, was reported missing by his wife on Friday after he drove her to work 15 miles away in Rochester, New Hampshire, the day before. Authorities said they attempted to reach Brown's cellphone in Dover, but it had run out of battery. "This is more like an area ... to dump dredging and sand and dirt and things used by the city workers and things like that. Contributing: The Associated PressDevastation in Libya:Survivor recounts ‘terrifying sight’ after Derna floodsCybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today.

Many of the bodies you’ll see will also be stuck inside cars that were pulled into the sea." “We’re now just days away from an epidemic,” a medical source from the Libyan Red Crescent told The National. The UAE commander said it was vital "not to try to recover bodies from cars". Derna, Libya Bodies are being washed back into shore in Derna after last week's storm and flooding. "On orders of our wise leadership in the UAE, we’re here to help our brothers wherever they need it in the region,” one of the divers told The National on Monday.