As the dams collapsed in the city, houses and vehicles turned into rubble, thousands of people lost their lives. A quarter of the city with a population of 100 thousand was erased from the map; agricultural lands were flooded.
With most of the survivors leaving the city, Derne turned into a ghost town.
In the city where there were power and water outages due to the disaster, search and rescue teams are trying to retrieve the bodies despite all difficulties.
Search and rescue teams from countries including Turkey, Russia, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates are currently continuing their work in Derna, which suffered great destruction.
While the Red Cross reported that the number of missing people in the flood disaster in Libya reached 10 thousand, it is estimated that the total number of dead or missing will reach 20 thousand.
People’s anxious wait continues on the seventh day of the disaster
Nasır İbrahim Gula, one of the city residents, said to the AA correspondent, “After the flood, we started looking for my son, my daughter-in-law and my 4 grandchildren, who went to my relatives’ house. There was nothing we could communicate with.” said.
Stating that he is currently staying at his daughter’s house, Gula stated that they are in contact with several search and rescue teams in Derne and other places regarding the missing relatives, but they have not been able to reach any results so far.
Old uncle Gula continued his words while crying and said:
“O Allah, have mercy on those who passed away. O Lord, reunite all the lost ones with their families in safety. O Lord, the most merciful of those who show mercy, remove the troubles and calamities from our country and the world of Islam.”
Libyan Hafiz Mustafa Poet also expressed the following about the missing relatives:
“My cousin, along with his wife and 9 children, disappeared in the flood. We have not found any traces of them so far. We do not know whether they were swept away by the flood or buried under the rubble.”
Stating that there are people from many countries among the dead and missing, Mustafa stated that the majority of the missing are Libyans.
Mustafa noted that the light rains started at 02:30 local time on Sunday night, September 10, and continued his words as follows:
“Some say that two dams burst, but in reality, three dams burst. No repair work has been done on the dams since 2006-2007. Something was going to be done in 2010, but it could not be done due to the revolution. And unfortunately, the dams burst in the flood, no matter how they were built. During the Ottoman period, in 1645 “A mosque was built there and is still standing. Likewise, there is a cemetery from the Islamic conquests that is also standing.”
Mustafa stated that a quarter of Derne was completely destroyed in the flood and that the people’s anxious wait for their missing relatives continues.
Flood disaster in Libya
Storm “Daniel”, which was effective in the Central Mediterranean and hit the east of Libya on September 10, caused floods in the cities of Benghazi, Beyda, Marj, Suse and Derna.
Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdulhamid Dibeybe, declared a 3-day mourning throughout the country on September 11 due to the flood, and the Libyan Presidential Council called for help from brother countries and international institutions for the regions damaged by the flood.
It is stated that the amount of rainfall in the eastern regions of Libya is at the “highest level in 40 years”.
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