‘Dam of death’: Libya survivors had just minutes to escape tsunami-like torrent
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
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.”
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 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.
Donald Trump has claimed Russia is “making concessions” in talks to end the Ukraine war – and that Kyiv is “happy” with how talks are progressing.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew out to his Florida estate for Thanksgiving, Mr Trump said “we’re making progress” on a deal and said he would be willing to meet with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy once they are close to an agreement.
He also said his previously announced deadline of Thursday, which is Thanksgiving, was no longer in place – and that the White House’s initial 28-point peace plan, which sparked such concern in Kyiv, “was just a map”.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on aboard Air Force One during travel to Palm Beach, Florida, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., Nov
Asked if Ukraine had been asked to hand over too much territory, Mr Trump suggested that “over the next couple of months [that] might be gotten by Russia anyway”.
Moscow’s concessions are a promise to stop fighting, “and they don’t take any more land”, he said.
“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” he added. “And I think everybody’s tired of fighting at this moment.”
Read more: A plan with Russian fingerprints all over it
Before boarding the plane, Mr Trump claimed only a few “points of disagreement” remain between the two sides.
Mr Trump’s negotiator Steve Witkoff will be meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow next week, the president said, while American army secretary Daniel Driscoll is due to travel to Kyiv for talks this week.
The chief of Ukraine’s presidential staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote: “Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace. We are grateful to the US for all its support.
“The meeting between the presidents will be thoroughly and promptly prepared on our part.”
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‘Ukraine still needs defence support,’ says Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy warns against ‘behind our back’ deal
Yesterday, a virtual “coalition of the willing” meeting that featured Ukraine’s allies took place, which was attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
In a speech, Mr Zelenskyy told attendees: “We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe.
“Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work.”
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What is Russia saying about the latest peace talks?
A joint statement from coalition leaders Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz said they had agreed with Mr Rubio “to accelerate joint work” with the US on the planning of security guarantees for Ukraine.
But a Ukrainian diplomat has warned major sticking points remain in the peace deal being thrashed out – primarily the prospect of territorial concessions.
A warning from the Kremlin
Meanwhile, Moscow has stressed that it will not allow any agreement to stray too far from its own objectives.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned any amended peace plan must reflect the understanding reached between Mr Trump and Mr Putin over the summer.
“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation,” he said, referring to the two leaders’ meeting in Alaska.
Read more:
Zelenskyy races to beat Trump’s peace plan deadline
In full: Europe’s 28-point counterproposal
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Standing ovation for Zelenskyy
As negotiations continue, so have Russian attacks, with Kyiv hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones early yesterday morning.
Seven people were killed with power and heating systems disrupted, as residents sheltered underground.
Meanwhile, three people died and homes were damaged after Ukraine launched an attack on southern Russia.
‘A critical juncture’
French President Emmanuel Macron has said peace efforts are gathering momentum, but “are clearly at a critical juncture”.
And during the annual White House turkey pardon ahead of Thanksgiving, Mr Trump told reporters: “I think we’re getting close to a deal. We’ll find out.
“I thought that would have been an easier one, but I think we’re making progress.”
In this story, there’s no substitute for hard news.
To learn of US envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian interactions is to understand the handbrake turn towards Moscow.
If there was much surprise and confusion about the origins of a peace proposal that had Russian fingerprints all over it, there is less now.
The Bloomberg report of Witkoff’s recent involvement distills eye-watering detail of his contact with Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s senior adviser on foreign policy.
Among the revelations, it tells of the American advising the Russian on dealing with Trump.
In a phone call last month, Witkoff told Ushakov that Zelenskyy was coming to visit the White House, and suggested Putin speak to Trump beforehand.
Witkoff reportedly said: “The president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”
He spoke of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and suggested that “maybe we do the same thing with you”.
Read more:
Who actually wrote Trump’s peace plan?
Steve Witkoff: Real estate mogul turned envoy
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What is Russia saying about the latest peace talks?
A good impression of a useful idiot
Subsequently, Witkoff drafted the controversial peace proposal with his Russian counterparts, and the US pressured Ukraine to accept it.
The report paints an unflattering picture of Trump’s envoy doing a good impression of a useful idiot.
There must be serious questions surrounding his engagement with the Russians and serious concerns around consequences that are potentially catastrophic.
Moscow’s threat to Ukraine and to the security infrastructure of Western Europe is strengthened on his handshake.
He’ll press the flesh in Russia once more – Donald Trump is sending Witkoff back to Moscow for further talks aimed at bridging the Ukraine-Russia impasse.
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Trump: I think we are getting very close to Ukraine deal
Scandal isn’t what it used to be
Putin has given the Americans little to no encouragement around their reworked plan and Kyiv will shudder at what Trump’s “Mr Fixit” might fix next.
They will despair of his continued involvement at any level and what it says about Trump’s perspective and where his loyalties lie.
In any other job, Witkoff might have been sacked for being irredeemably compromised.
At any other time, this would have been viewed, universally, as a major scandal.
But under Donald Trump, scandal isn’t what it used to be.
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‘Ukraine still needs defence support,’ says Zelenskyy
The president and his point man continue to consort with Vladimir Putin.
On the evidence of Steve Witkoff’s interaction, the power dynamic leans less Trump than we might have thought.
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