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The sheer numbers of people dead or unaccounted for in the Libyan city of Derna is overwhelming survivors, who say they had minutes to get away before the coastal city was devastated by a tsunami-like torrent.

Sky News TV crews have reached the port city where people have been using their bare hands to dig for loved ones.

Reports suggest almost a quarter of the city has been washed away and reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland, following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains

A general view of the city of Derna is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 12., 2023. Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that broke dams and swept away entire neighborhoods in multiple coastal towns, the destruction appeared greatest in Derna city. (AP Photo/Jamal Alkomaty)
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An aerial view of the Libyan city of Derna

Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir, reporting from one of the dams that collapsed, said it is now known as “the dam of death”.

She said though it has been days since the disaster struck, residents are still in a complete state of shock – with some survivors coming to the site to look at the catastrophic scale of the tragedy the dam unleashed on them in a matter of moments.

“The flood has completely changed their lives. One person told me: ‘This is not a natural disaster, this is a catastrophe’,” she said.

Libya floods – latest updates: Desperate search for survivors continues amid devastation

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Derna’s ‘dam of death’

‘Strong smell in the air of corpses’

Untold numbers could be buried under drifts of mud and debris across the city, including overturned cars and chunks of concrete, metres high.

Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from the centre of Derna, near the port, said the eastern Libyan city was like “one big graveyard” – a mass of wrecked lives, flattened buildings and upended vehicles.

Vast multi-storey buildings have been ripped off their foundations and smothered by volumes of mud.

“Everywhere you look here – it’s 360° destruction,” she said. “There is a strong smell in the air of corpses.”

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‘Utter devastation around here’

“The force of the water was so strong from the two dams which collapsed that the locals say it sounded like an explosion, after explosion, after explosion,” said Crawford.

“Massive tonnes of rocks, whole apartment blocks, just swept away. There are three bridges that have been swept away. Building after building has been levelled or smashed through.

“They had – according to those who survived – about 20 minutes to get out of the away of this torrent of water.”

She added: “As we walk through the mountains of rubble, boulders and rocks, we have to keep reminding ourselves these were once people’s homes, this was once a street packed with shops and malls. Even the road is non existent.

“There is no sign of any significant international aid here at all. There is very little evidence of any Libyan aid workers.”

Damaged areas and buildings, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya
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Entire neighbourhoods have been washed away

‘We saw friends literally being swept away’

The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure and has made it difficult for rescuers and humanitarian groups to reach stricken areas.

People searching for relatives say they had plenty of warning about Storm Daniel before it hit, but then followed a catastrophic culmination of human error.

Gandi Mohammed Hammoud, a structural engineer, said it was down to negligence, adding plenty of warning had been issued by experts about the poor state of the city’s two dams.

“They should have known,” he told Sky News, as he looked aghast at the death and destruction.

He said he watched as his neighbours and friends screamed in terror as the torrent of water tore apart their homes and flats.

“Then it went silent – which means they died,” he said. “We saw some friends literally being swept away in front of us.”

He added: “Someone should pay for these deaths. Someone should be held accountable for what happened here.”

Read more:
Warning over shortage of body bags as fears of disease rise in Derna
Libya floods expose corruption, lack of international support and thousands of dead bodies

A UN official has said most casualties could have been avoided.

“If there would have been a normal operating meteorological service, they could have issued the warnings,” World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) head Petteri Taalas told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.

“The emergency management authorities would have been able to carry out the evacuation of the people, and we could have avoided most of the human casualties.”

Derna
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Derna has been the worst-affected in the country by the floods


Disaster of ‘biblical proportions’

Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna.

Those in the region are calling it a disaster of “biblical proportions” – with the number of fatalities soaring to 11,300, according to the Libyan Red Crescent.

Though the number killed is still not known.

Marie el-Drese, secretary-general of the aid group, said a further 10,100 people have been reported missing in the Mediterranean city.

Morgues are full in hospitals and are overwhelmed as people race to bury the dead.

Most of the dead have been buried in mass graves outside Derna, while others are being transferred to nearby towns and cities.

Read more:
Before and after pictures show devastation of Libya floods
What caused sheer scale of death and destruction in flooded Libyan city?

Rescue and relief operations have been complicated by political divides in the country.

The flooding swept away entire families and communities on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country, which has been at war since a 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Despite a 2020 ceasefire that ended most major warfare, allowing roads and flights to reopen, territory remains controlled by rival armed factions.

An internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) is based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration operates in the east, including Derna.

“The instability, poor governance, corruption and mafia-style politicking including a network of people-smuggling gangs has all conspired to make this tragedy.

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Bodies still remain among the ‘collapsed and inclining’ buildings in quake-hit Mandalay

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Bodies still remain among the 'collapsed and inclining' buildings in quake-hit Mandalay

A man inside Mandalay has told Sky News bodies remain under “collapsed and inclining” buildings after the Myanmar earthquake – as a woman was freed from rubble after 91 hours.

The local inside Myanmar said many of the structures in the city were wrecked or badly damaged after the 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday, adding: “There are some bodies, some dead bodies, that still remain and other destruction”.

Meanwhile, in a televised address, Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing said the number of dead had risen to 2,719 and is expected to exceed 3,000.

Some 4,521 people have been injured, while a further 441 are missing.

More than 10,000 buildings are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar, the World Health Organisation said.

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Before and after: Myanmar earthquake

Smell of dead bodies near destroyed buildings

In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was close to the quake’s epicentre, 50 children and two teachers were killed when their preschool collapsed, the United Nations said.

The local in the city told Sky News that “a lot of local assistance associations like charity groups are still struggling with digging out the corpses, the dead bodies, from the destruction”.

He said that “when we pass near the destructions, the collapsed building or very damaged building, we can smell” dead bodies.

“The smell of the dead bodies after four days… it still remains,” he said, before adding: “For the social assistance association… they need permission [to give aid] especially from the government.

“If they don’t have permission, then they cannot do anything.”

People sheltering in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay. Pic: Reuters
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People sheltering in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay. Pic: Reuters

He also said others in Mandalay are struggling after the earthquake, which followed the city being affected by cyclones, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the civil war in Myanmar – where a junta seized power in a coup in 2021.

“Some people, they say they have nothing at all,” the local added. “They have no more home, they have no more belongings, because its already damaged.”

Woman freed after 91 hours under rubble

It comes after the fire department in Myanmar’s capital freed a woman trapped under rubble 91 hours after the building collapsed.

The 63-year-old woman was freed early on Tuesday in Naypyidaw.

As the country continues to recover, a worker from the International Rescue Committee said people fear aftershocks and are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields.

Communities are struggling to meet basic needs such as access to clean water and sanitation, and emergency teams are working “tirelessly” to locate survivors and provide aid, the UN said in a report.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by the civil war, as rebel groups say the junta has conducted airstrikes, even after the quake, while NGOs fear that certain areas could be denied vital supplies.

“Myanmar’s military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active,” said Joe Freeman, a researcher with Amnesty Myanmar.

“It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.”

Read more:
Military regime targeting ‘civilian areas’ in ‘wake of disaster’
Myanmar earthquake leaves some areas almost completely destroyed

The quake was the strongest to hit the southeast Asian country in more than a century.

In neighbouring Thailand, rescuers are still scouring the ruins of a collapsed, unfinished skyscraper for any signs of life.

“There are about 70 bodies underneath, and we hope by some miracle one or two are still alive,” volunteer rescue leader Bin Bunluerit said.

Six human-shaped figures have been detected by scanners, said Bangkok’s deputy governor, Tavida Kamolvej.

Thirteen deaths have been confirmed at the building site, with 74 people still missing, while Thailand’s national number of dead stands at 20.

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Father demands protection after Gaza aid workers’ deaths

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Father demands protection after Gaza aid workers' deaths

The father of a paramedic killed by Israel in Gaza has told Sky News he would have been on the mission to rescue wounded colleagues, but was ill that day and so his son went instead.

“It was supposed to be me, you know. I was on duty that night but fell ill and sent him in my place.”

Speaking at his son’s funeral, Hassan Abu Hileh said Israel is to blame for the death of Mohammed and the other 14 men.

SN footage of P 170800TU GAZA BUNKALL 1700 PKG JJ1
paramedic Hassan Abu Hileh who's son Mohammed was killed by Israeli forces
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Hassan Abu Hileh’s son Mohammed was killed when Israeli forces said they ‘opened fire on suspicious vehicles’

“We need protection from the international community. We need protection for medical teams. We are medics-soldiers of duty, not armed fighters. We carry out humanitarian work. If I see someone who needs medical attention, I’m obligated to serve them,” he said.

The bodies of the Red Crescent and United Nations workers went missing around eight days ago. Despite repeated requests to search for them, all denied by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the UN eventually found 14 bodies buried under sand in a mass grave. One is still missing.

They were still wearing their uniforms.

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
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Funerals took place on Monday for medics killed in Gaza. Pic: Reuters

The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza has accused Israel of murdering the emergency workers. “We arrived at the scene of the crime to retrieve the bodies and found that all of them had been shot directly in the upper part of their bodies and buried,” said Dr Bashir Murad.

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“The ambulances were also destroyed and buried.”

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Dr Bashir Murad, Director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza
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Dr Bashir Murad, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, said the workers had been shot

The bodies were found in sand in the south of the Gaza Strip in what Jonathan Whittall, Gaza head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called a “mass grave”, marked with the emergency light from a crushed ambulance.

Mr Whittall posted pictures and video of Red Crescent teams digging in the sand for the bodies and workers laying them out on the ground, covered in plastic sheets.

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Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has denied killing innocent medical workers and said Israeli forces opened fire on suspicious vehicles that were travelling without coordination and in an active combat zone.

“The IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance on March 23,” claimed a spokesman.

“⁠Last Sunday, several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals. IDF troops then opened fire at the suspected vehicles.

“Earlier that day, cars that did not belong to terrorists were coordinated and passed safely on the same route.”

Read more from Sky News:
What happened to the ceasefire?
Anti-Hamas chants at Gaza protest

We have asked the IDF why the bodies were found in a mass grave but have received no comment.

More than 400 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the UN.

According to the UN, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The UN is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third because of safety concerns.

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a ‘parasite’

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a 'parasite'

China’s military has said it’s begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan.

It said the exercises were intended to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, and called the self-governed island’s president a “parasite”.

China considers Taiwan to be its own territory and has threatened to use force to gain control.

A poster accompanying the drills titled 'Closing In'. Pic: Eastern Theater Command
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A poster accompanying the drills titled ‘Closing In’. Pic: Eastern Theater Command

Its military released a poster entitled “Closing In”, showing Chinese ships and fighter jets circling the island and the words “sinister moves of Taiwan separatists courting disaster upon themselves”.

It comes after the Taiwanese president, President Lai Ching-Te, called China a “foreign hostile force” last month.

He announced measures including a proposal to re-instate a military court system in response to a perceived growth in Chinese infiltration of Taiwanese society and “grey-zone” tactics.

Announcing the joint exercises, China’s eastern theatre command depicted the president as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.

“Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” the animation said.

Footage also showed the capital Taipei being aimed at from above and military vehicles patrolling the streets.

An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters
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An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters

The eastern theatre command said on its official WeChat social media account: “The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes.”

Taiwan’s defence ministry said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered its response area and it had tracked 19 Chinese navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island in a 24-hour period.

It said the group had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

There is no doubt Beijing is seizing an opportunity here.

The recent hardening of both rhetoric and policy from Taiwan’s president provides an opening for China, not just to practise blockade scenarios and sow feelings of insecurity among Taiwanese, but crucially also to test the resolve of the island’s longstanding backer, the US.

It has been a nervous few months in Taipei as they’ve watched President Trump row back support for Ukraine.

An initial reluctance from the new administration to provide clear condemnation or pushback will have ultimately emboldened Beijing.

However, there have been a few hints in recent days that Washington may ultimately be coming back in behind Taiwan; the hardening of language in a few key statements, a visit by Alaska’s governor and the quiet release of $870m of previously frozen military aid, to name just a few.

Exactly where Trump stands on the Taiwan question is still unclear, he remains a volatile and transactional actor.

It is not impossible, for instance, that Taiwan’s future could be used as a bargaining chip within some future wide-reaching deal with China.

Today’s drills will serve as a test for all involved. Is US resolve indeed hardening, to what extent, and how publicly?

Either way, an intense period of cross-strait relations feels inevitable.

“The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific
region… and has become the biggest ‘troublemaker’ in the international community,” the statement added.

The drills come two weeks after a large exercise in mid-March, when Beijing sent a large number of drones and ships towards the island.

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