Libya floods: People in Derna use bare hands to dig for survivors – but find only remains
Libya is a country in anguish.
Her people are suffering a fresh kind of horror after years of civil war, fighting, corruption, greed and people smuggling.
Now floods have devastated the port city of Derna and the communities and villagers around.
And what’s so much worse is that the natural disaster caused by Storm Daniel, which has been sweeping across European counties, has been compounded by a man-made catastrophe.
Those in the worst-affected town of Derna are calling it a disaster of “biblical proportions”.
Civilians in the town have been using their bare hands to try to dig for survivors… instead they’re finding just the remains of victims.
The airport at Benghazi has been bustling with people trying to get home or go to the area themselves to track down missing relatives. There are an estimated 10,000 unaccounted for.
It’s hard to know exact figures but the civilians on the ground are stunned and terrified at the scale of the devastation this torrent of water caused.
They expect the death toll to rise substantially but with little co-ordination on the ground, accurate figures are tough to come by.
The collapse of not one but two dams in Derna unleashed a terrible violent water force which upended vehicles, tore down houses, apartment blocks and schools.
People searching for survivors in Derna, Libya. Pic: AP
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‘A lot of people are under the mud’
One shocked survivor showed us pictures of the utterly flattened muddy landscape in front of him where dozens of buildings once stood.
“They’ve all just gone… Derna has gone,” Maged told us.
“I can’t believe it. I’ve lived 27 years or so in Britain but I was working on my retirement home here in Derna where I am from. It used to be beautiful. Now there’s nothing left. I don’t even know if I can stay here now. The memories are just too hard.”
Another survivor told us of the despair at the complete destruction of the area.
“It is a disaster of biblical proportions”, Mere Bijou said.
“And our government is to blame… anyone in charge in Libya is to blame. Everyone knew Storm Daniel was coming but they did nothing about it. They didn’t protect us, they didn’t try to save us, they didn’t do anything.”
Damage from massive flooding is seen in Derna. Pic: AP
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International aid has been promised – by the UK, France, UAE and Turkey – but those on the ground haven’t seen much evidence of it.
“I’m told Turkey is helping, France is helping, other countries are helping,” Mere said.
“But we haven’t seen them… where are they? There’s no international help at all. It’s just chaos.
“We’ve got a small group of four people – all civilians – and we’ve pulled out eight peoples’ remains on our own [in] the last few hours.”
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Libya: ‘Disaster driven by human error’
Libyans are worn down by years and years of poor governance many of which date back to 2011 and the NATO-backed ousting of the country’s autocratic dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, during the period which became known as the Arab Spring.
Gaddafi was killed and the country dived into instability with rival armed militias vying for power and territory.
The divisions and fighting led to a bitter civil war and two pseudo governments splitting the country into two.
The West-based authority is recognised by the United Nations while the east is run by Khalifa Haftar, a military strongman who supported Gaddafi.
Emergency crews working near a damaged building in Derna
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Libya: Sea ‘bringing in new bodies’
The years of strife, weak and corrupt governance, corruption and negligence has meant Libya was utterly unprepared for coping with a disaster, described by some as apocalyptic.
While the devastating earthquake in Morocco took the country by surprise, Storm Daniel announced its arrival by smashing its way through a string of countries.
But the Libyan authorities were simply not up to preparing for or coping with a disaster of this magnitude – and it is the Libyan people who’ve been killed, or left displaced in their thousands.
Some of the survivors are already fearing they will never be able to find their loved ones.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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