Five members of a Greek rescue team died in a road accident in Libya shortly after they arrived on Sunday to take part in rescue operations following deadly floods, according to a new report from Greek authorities released on Monday.
According to Libya’s Eastern Minister of Health Othman Abdeljalil, three members of a Libyan family also died in the car that collided with the Greek team’s vehicle and two others were seriously injured.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the accident, “which unfortunately claimed the lives of five members of the Greek delegation,” as “tragic.”
He regretted that “this tragedy occurred while they were fulfilling their noble duty of humanity and international solidarity.” The entire country is in mourning,” the prime minister wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
According to a press release from the Greek General Staff, “five bodies, including three Greek Army officials and two Greek Foreign Ministry interpreters who took part in the rescue team, will be repatriated to Athens on Monday aboard a Greek military service.” Airplane. The other fourteen members of the team were injured.
The Greek General Staff said the three victims of the Greek army were Greek nationals. Defense Minister Nikos Dendias announced a three-day mourning period in the army on Monday.
In an initial assessment on Sunday, the Greek General Staff reported three dead and two missing, while the Libyan minister stated that “four members of this Greek team were killed and the fifteen others were injured.”
The “terrible accident” occurred as the Greek team was on its way from Benghazi to Derna, 300 kilometers east, the Libyan minister said at a news conference on Sunday in Derna, the flood-ravaged city.
A total of nineteen members took part in this Greek aid operation in Libya.
Thirteen of the fourteen injured were repatriated to Athens overnight from Sunday to Monday on board a Greek Army C-130 sent to Libya for this purpose with a medical team on board. According to the Greek General Staff, they were transferred to a military hospital in the Greek capital.
The fourteenth injured man is hospitalized in Libya as his transfer is not possible due to his health condition, the spokesman for the Greek General Staff told AFP.