The team of Ahmed Chaïb, an engineer at Nahl Company, a state-owned company specializing in civil engineering, during the construction of an elevated road before the start of the rainy season in Derna, Libya, on September 19, 2023. ADRIENNE SURPRENANT / MYOP FOR “THE WORLD” ADRIENNE SURPRENANT / MYOP FOR “THE WORLD”
The flooding caused by Storm Daniel almost two weeks ago in Libya claimed more than 3,800 lives, according to a new, still preliminary report sent by eastern Libyan authorities on the evening of September 23. The raging floods that devastated the city of Derna in the east of the country claimed at least 3,845 lives, according to the count “this afternoon”, announced Mohamed Eljarh, spokesman for a committee formed by the eastern government to monitor relief efforts.
That number, which he said only includes bodies buried and registered by the Health Ministry, “is expected to increase every day,” he said. Mohamed Eljarh said the bodies hastily buried by residents in the first days after the disaster had still not been counted.
According to him, the authorities are working to identify the victims buried without identification, as well as the missing, whose number rises to over 10,000, according to estimates by the authorities and international humanitarian organizations. He called on residents to report the missing people to two offices set up by the Attorney General’s Office in Derna.
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Meanwhile, bodies continue to be searched under the rubble or in the sea. According to Mr Eljarh, at least nine foreign teams are still taking part.
Storm Daniel primarily hit Derna, a city of 100,000 people on the Mediterranean, causing the breach of two dams upstream and a tsunami-sized flood, washing away everything in its path. According to the latest statistics from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 43,000 people have been displaced by the floods.