In Libya, the extent of the storm disaster is becoming increasingly clear: According to a ministry spokesman, 5,200 people died in the floods. The Red Cross says there are 10,000 missing people.
The authorities assume thousands of deaths after the floods in Libya. A spokesman for the interior ministry of one of the two governments told the dpa news agency that 5,200 people had died. The numbers could not initially be confirmed independently.
The AFP news agency had previously reported 2,300 deaths and around 7,000 injuries in the severely affected port city of Darna alone. The Libyan emergency and rescue services said more than 5,000 people were still missing. Hundreds of people have already been buried in the port city. Two dams broke there on Monday night. A good quarter of the city is said to have been washed into the sea, said the ministry spokesman.
Lots of missing people and collapsed buildings
Storm “Daniel”, which had already caused severe destruction in Greece, hit the North African country on Sunday. According to that ARD-Meteorologist According to Karsten Schwanke, 414 liters of rain per square meter fell at the Al Baida weather station in the north of the country on Sunday. That was three times as much as in the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in July 2021.
The floods cut off numerous areas from the outside world. Images from the affected areas showed massive mudslides, collapsed buildings and entire neighborhoods submerged in muddy water. While rescue workers and relatives search for survivors, around 10,000 people are missing, according to the Red Cross.
Difficult rescue efforts in Darna
Videos and photos on social media showed a catastrophic level of destruction in Darna. According to eyewitness reports, the strong winds caused electricity pylons to fall. In the middle of the night, a dam not far from the coastal town burst with a loud bang. Finally, a second dam gave way to the masses of water that thundered from the valley towards Darna. People, houses and sights are said to have been washed into the sea.
Osama Ali, a spokesman for the local emergency services, reported on the difficult efforts of the rescuers. “There is another road that leads to the city. But the passage is difficult and dangerous as part of the road is destroyed and further collapse is expected due to the huge volumes of water.”
In addition to Darna, other cities such as Al-Baida, Al-Marj, Susa and Shahat were also affected. The mayor in Shahat spoke of around 20,000 square kilometers of flooded areas – an area about the size of Saxony-Anhalt. The affected regions were declared “disaster areas”.
Three days of national mourning declared
The UN-recognized government in the capital Tripoli spoke of the heaviest rains in more than 40 years. She declared three days of national mourning on Monday and called for the “unity of all Libyans” in the face of the disaster. Aid convoys made their way east from Tripoli.
The help needed is largely beyond the capacity of the Red Cross and the government in Libya, emphasized the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Tamer Ramadan. That’s why the government asked for international help. Access to the eastern region of the country is limited, and telephone and internet connections were initially largely interrupted.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz was dismayed by the severe flooding. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and their families,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser promised support from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). “We want to help quickly after this terrible natural disaster,” said the minister.
Two hostile governments in a power struggle
Two hostile governments in Libya – one based in the east and the other in the west – are currently fighting for power. All diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the civil war, which continues to this day, have so far failed. The state order in the country has largely collapsed and numerous conflict parties are struggling for influence after long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi was violently overthrown in 2011.