Marsad Libya Libyan Security Sector Observatory

Last week, Storm Daniel pounded Libya, wreaking havoc on the eastern city of Derna, where two neglected, ageing dams gave way upstream, unleashing an estimated 30 million cubic metres (8 billion gallons) of water, and obliterating entire neighbourhoods of the city, home to around 100,000 people.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that a total of 3,958 deaths have been registered in hospitals, according to WHO sources, among which 406 people were immigrants.

Floods that killed thousands in the Libyan city of Derna also inundated one of the country’s premier ancient sites, threatening its UNESCO-listed monuments with collapse, a recent visitor and a leading archaeologist said.

Ten days have passed since Storm Daniel battered the northeastern coastal areas of Libya (10 September), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported yesterday in its routine brief. It said the catastrophic consequences for the affected people and infrastructure are unprecedented.

In a Libyan hospital ward, trauma and grief mix with disbelief and anger among the survivors of the flood disaster that killed untold thousands in the devastated city of Derna.

The Libyan Crime Watch and Human Rights Defender called for immediate disclosure of the conditions of inmates in Garnada Prison after Storm Daniel. They also urged for the provision of immediate aid to those affected.