In the Libyan port city of Derna, about nine hundred buildings collapsed as a result of the natural disaster a week ago. This is reported by the West Libyan government based in the capital Tripoli. Hundreds more buildings were damaged or buried under mud.
As a result of the storm, a huge amount of rainfall fell in a short period of time in eastern Libya last week. As a result, two dams near the port city broke, resulting in floods and mudslides.
Earlier, eyewitnesses said that a quarter of the city was destroyed as a result of Storm Daniel. In many places in Derna, cars are lying on their sides or even completely upside down.
Bodies washed ashore
(Foreign) aid workers are still searching for bodies in the disaster area. The bodies of victims that were previously swept away by the water are now washing up on land.
The death toll in Derna has been revised upwards again. According to the latest figures from the United Nations, 11,300 victims have now been counted. Earlier this week, the Libyan Red Crescent, the sister organization of the Red Cross, reported that the number of deaths had risen to more than 11,000, but this later became unclear. In addition, at least 10,000 people are still missing.
The emergency services are very concerned that the disaster will cause an increase in the number of water-borne diseases in the near future, such as cholera.
Middle East correspondent Daisy Mohr and camerawoman Edmée van Rijn have arrived in the devastated Derna.
Yesterday, authorities announced an investigation into the dam breaches, which experts say are partly due to poorly maintained infrastructure in Libya. The dams were built in the 1970s and although millions were released for maintenance ten years ago, this did not happen.
It is unclear exactly how the investigation into the dams should take shape – since dictator Gadhafi was ousted in 2011, the country has been in a political crisis.
The country de facto has two governments: the east is in the hands of General Haftar. He is based in the city of Benghazi, which has also been severely affected by the natural disaster. The internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Dbeibah operates from the capital Tripoli in the west. Both can count on the support of powerful foreign nations such as Turkey and Russia.
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