DERNA : Libyan authorities have opened an investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused a devastating flood in a coastal city as rescue teams searched for bodies on Saturday, nearly a week after the deluge killed more than 11,000 people.Heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding across eastern Libya last weekend.The floods overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water several metres (yards) high through the centre of Derna, destroying entire neighbourhoods and sweeping people out to sea.More than 10,000 are missing, according to the Libyan Red Crescent. Six days on, searchers are still digging through mud and hollowed-out buildings, looking for bodies and possible survivors. “I found the kid in the water next to his grandfather,” said Ayoub, who only gave his first name. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the region and took shelter in schools and other government buildings.Dozens of foreigners were among those killed, including people who had fled war and unrest elsewhere in the region.Others had come to Libya to work or were travelling through in hopes of migrating to Europe. At least 74 men from one village in Egypt perished in the flood, as well as dozens of people who had travelled to Libya from war-torn Syria.

September 16, 2023 13:41 UTC

Where the river ran down to the sea, there are just banks of earth and mud. People are talking about this torrent of water having the force of an atomic bomb. Things like tents, medical care and clean water need to be brought into the country. And then even when you manage to get that aid into Benghazi, it is a 6-7 hour drive to Derna. But the normal large-scale, well-rehearsed humanitarian operation from the international community that you would normally see a week after a disaster like this is not in place.

September 16, 2023 13:34 UTC

CAIRO – 16 September 2023: Pre-university Egyptian students returning from Libya due to the devastating storm and flooding are exempted from paying tuition fees of the new 2023/2024 academic year, announced Reda Hegazy, the Minister of Education and Technical Education, in a statement on Saturday. The Ministry extended sincere condolences to the families of the Egyptian victims who died as a result of floods that struck the Libyan state. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the Libyan army prevented entry to these unsafe areas. More than 70 dead bodies of Egyptian nationals who were killed in Libya floods were deported home and buried in their hometown Beni Suef, Upper Egypt, on Wednesday, Al-Arabyia Al Hadath reported. Additionally, the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi is currently coordinating with Egyptian ambulance teams to rescue the Egyptian survivors and work fast to return them home.

September 16, 2023 12:41 UTC

It took 15 men to clear the layers of dirt from the marble floors, the family said. Up to 20,000 people could be dead in this war-divided country — victims of a perfect storm of extreme weather and state neglect. Inside the Saadawi family home, muddy handprints covered almost every wall, rising with the stairs the family had scrambled up as the waters rose higher and faster. AdvertisementThey were saved when the kitchen wall collapsed, Nizar said, the water rushing into the yard where they had been eating. With winter approaching, they would have to repair the house, but they didn’t know how they would afford it.

September 16, 2023 12:12 UTC

| Libya Probes Collapse Of Two Dams After Flood Devastated An Eastern City Killing Over 11000Libya probes collapse of two dams after flood devastated an eastern city, killing over 11,000Heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding across eastern Libya last weekendBy AP Published Date - 05:12 PM, Sat - 16 September 23A general view shows destruction left by floods after the Mediterranean storm "Daniel" hit Libyas eastern city of Derna, on September 14, 2023. Heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding across eastern Libya last weekend. But there was no warning about the dams, which collapsed early Monday as most residents were asleep in their homes. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the towns of Bayda, Susa, Marj and Shahatt. Others had come to Libya to work or were travelling through in hopes of migrating to Europe.

September 16, 2023 11:54 UTC





STORY: Around 3,000 bodies are believed to be buried in this mass grave, according to one of the cemetery workers. Residents and rescue workers in Derna have been struggling to cope with the thousands of corpses washing up or decaying under rubble. The World Health Organization and other aid groups urged authorities in Libya to stop burying flood victims in mass graves, saying these could bring long-term mental distress to families or cause health risks if located near water. A UN report said more than 1,000 people had so far been buried in that manner since Libya, a nation divided by a decade of conflict and political chaos, was hit on Sunday by torrential rain that caused two dams to burst.

September 16, 2023 09:20 UTC

GENEVA: The United Nations is urgently seeking more than $71 million to assist those most in need after deadly flash floods swept Libya over the weekend. Hurricane-strength Storm Daniel slammed into Libya on September 10, killing at least 4,000 people, with thousands more still missing. In a flash appeal on Thursday, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said it expects the toll to rise. The city of Derna, one of the hardest-hit locations, was reduced to a wasteland after two upstream dams burst on Sunday. Still missingEmergency teams on Friday kept up their search for the thousands still posted as missing from the tsunami-sized flash flood that swept the Libyan port city of Derna.

September 16, 2023 08:46 UTC

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September 16, 2023 05:29 UTC

Libya flooding kills more than 11,000 as crews continue to search for survivors, victims Thousands are reported dead in Libya in catastrophic flooding after two dams burst, washing away whole neighborhoods in Derna. CBS News' senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams reports.

September 16, 2023 04:59 UTC

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan authorities limited access to the flooded city of Derna on Friday to make it easier for searchers to dig through the mud and hollowed-out buildings for the more than 10,000 people still missing and presumed dead following a disaster that has already claimed more than 11,000 lives. Aid groups called on authorities to facilitate their access to the city so they can distribute badly needed food, clean water and medical supplies to survivors. A drone shows the destruction from floods in Derna, Libya. “In just two hours, one of my colleagues counted over 200 bodies on the beach near Derna,” he said. “The waves swept people away from the tops of buildings, and we could see people carried by floodwater,” he said.

September 15, 2023 18:03 UTC

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September 15, 2023 17:53 UTC

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September 15, 2023 17:53 UTC

The calamitous Storm Daniel that caused massive floods in Libya has led to the deaths of over 11,000 people. advertisementA Twitter user shared the video and wrote, “Libya: Successful rescue operationâ€æ Libya flooding disaster.” The archived version of this post can be seen here. India Today found that this video is neither recent nor does it have anything to do with the floods in Libya. Per the outlet, the video showed a Chinese man using a bulldozer to rescue a family stuck during a flood in Beijing. A Chinese man used a bulldozer against the rushing current to rescue a family stuck on a roof during the flood in Beijing.

September 15, 2023 17:34 UTC

DERNA, Libya — The center of the eastern city of Derna is like one big graveyard — a mass of flattened buildings, wrecked lives and upended vehicles amid torn trees. From where I’m standing, at least three huge bridges in the city center are leveled. The sheer numbers of people dead or unaccounted for in the Libyan city of Derna are overwhelming survivors. Sky NewsA few hours after daybreak and there are small groups of civilians, some with just pickaxes, trampling over the boulders and rubble left in Derna center in the wake of Storm Daniel. The steaming heat has meant the corpses they’re finding are putrid after almost a week of decomposing.

September 15, 2023 16:38 UTC

“The biggest concern now is the contaminated water... Water supply in the city is dependent on wells underground. Most of the wells have been covered in mud, damaged or contaminated with sewage," Othman says. "There were no instructions asking people to remain in their homes, except areas where they were not in the way of the water." He adds: “I heard people say the dams were not being maintained... This storm is unprecedented... the amount of water exceeded 450mm in a very short time.”

September 15, 2023 15:53 UTC