Horror in Libya as body of young girl found in flooding aftermath – as UN official warns of cholera outbreak risk
A potential cholera outbreak could add to misery in the Libyan city of Derna, where the sheer number of people dead or unaccounted for after a massive flood is overwhelming survivors.
The number of fatalities has soared to 11,300, according to the Libyan Red Crescent, with a further 10,100 reported missing as hopes of finding survivors diminish.
Two Sky News TV crews witnessed horrific scenes after reaching the eastern port city – including the tragic discovery of the body of a young girl, perhaps aged 10 or 11.
Desperate search for survivors continues – latest updates
Desperate relatives search for survivors. Pic: AP
An aerial view of the Libyan city of Derna. Pic: AP
The United Nations (UN) has warned the country urgently needs equipment to find those trapped in sludge and wrecked buildings – and raised concerns of a cholera outbreak.
“Priority areas are shelter, food, key primary medical care because of the worry of cholera, the worry of lack of clean water,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.
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.
More than 38,640 people are displaced in the northeast of the country, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya said on Friday.
‘Graveyard’ city smashed by water from ‘dam of death’
Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir, reporting from one of the collapsed dams, said it is now known as “the dam of death“.
Although it has been days since the disaster struck, she said survivors are still in a complete state of shock – with some coming to the site to look at the catastrophe.
“The flood has completely changed their lives,” she said. “One person told me: ‘This is not a natural disaster, this is a catastrophe.'”
Sky News will air a special programme – Libya floods: The city swept away – at midday on Saturday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Derna’s ‘dam of death’
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from the centre of Derna, said the city was like “one big graveyard”.
“Everywhere you look here – it’s 360° destruction,” she said. “There is a strong smell in the air of corpses.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How the floods cut a swathe through city
“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, were 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 way of this torrent of water.”
Read more:
Before and after pictures show devastation of Libya floods
What caused sheer scale of destruction in flooded Libyan city?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Utter devastation’ after torrent’s destruction
‘Someone should pay for these deaths’ after girl’s body found
There was a collective intake of horror when the “unmistakable shape of a small human” was discovered, Crawford added.
It was the body of a young girl – maybe aged 10 or 11.
Witnesses were stunned into silence, she said, describing it as “utterly dreadful”.
Two relief workers raced down with a black body bag and the girl was hurriedly placed inside it.
Entire neighbourhoods have been washed away
The scene at one of the dams that collapsed in heavy rains
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Drone footage shows flood-hit Libya
People searching for relatives say they had plenty of warning about Storm Daniel before it hit.
But what followed was a catastrophic culmination of human errors.
Gandi Mohammed Hammoud, a structural engineer, said it was down to negligence.
He said there had been plenty of warnings from experts about the poor state of the city’s two dams.
“They should have known,” he told Sky News.
Search teams are combing streets, wrecked buildings, and even the sea to look for bodies. Pic: AP
Hopes of finding survivors are fading
Mr Hammoud said he watched as his neighbours and friends screamed in terror as the torrent of water tore apart their homes and flats.
He added: “Someone should pay for these deaths.
“Someone should be held accountable for what happened here.”
Officials have warned unexploded ordnances – remnants of war such as unexploded bombs, mines, shells and grenades – pose a risk for those involved in recovering the dead.
The aftermath of the floods
Derna has been the worst-affected
Rescuers have been sifting through the wreckage
‘Bodies are littering the streets’
Most of the dead have been buried in mass graves outside Derna, while others are being transferred to nearby towns and cities.
“Bodies are littering the streets, washing back on shore and are buried under collapsed buildings and debris. In just two hours, one of my colleagues counted over 200 bodies on the beach near Derna,” said Bilal Sablouh, regional forensics manager for Africa for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The ICRC has sent a cargo flight to Benghazi with 5,000 body bags.
Rescue and relief operations have also been complicated by political divides in the country, which has been at war since a 2011 uprising toppled long-ruling dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Despite a 2020 ceasefire ending most major warfare, 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, have all conspired to make this tragedy,” Crawford added.
World
Brutal murder on ‘date’ exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa
Thirty-year-old Olorato Mongale made sure to take all the measures necessary for a safe first date in South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg.
She had agreed to meet ‘John’ in the daytime. She sent her friends her phone location after leaving her house and promptly texted them “on the road” at 2.47pm.
They replied “enjoy!”, hoping she would find love.
An hour later, their friend had gone silent and her phone location was showing up in dangerous areas of the city.
A search party of seven friends set off to trace Olorato’s digital footsteps.
It’s believed Olorato’s killers were part of a gang robbing young women at gunpoint
“It didn’t make sense. Where is she? Why is she missing?” says Karabo Mokoena, as we drove to the locations involved in their search.
“Every place we went to looked dodgier and dodgier. It made me panic – I was very scared.”
After finding her bag on a pile of bricks off the side of a main road, they filed a missing person report at a police station.
“I thought there was no way we were not going to find her. We did end up finding her but not in the way we would have hoped,” says Karabo.
Olorato’s body had been dumped at the dirt entrance of a random house less than 100m from where her friends were searching into the night.
Her face was swollen and her eyes black-blue from violent impact. Her top was ripped open to expose her breasts.
Police told Sky News that her post-mortem showed signs of blunt force trauma. She was likely beaten to death.
Olorato’s body was dumped outside this gate – she was likely beaten to death
“It was like I was dreaming, seeing her body like that with those bruises and blood everywhere,” says Olorato’s mother, Keabetswe Poppy Mongale, describing the moment she had to identify her only child at the morgue.
“I don’t think what I saw will ever go away,” she adds.
“It was very painful. I don’t wish that on any parent because my beautiful little girl looked different because someone chose to do that to her.”
Olorato’s mother says the image of her daughter in the morgue will never go away
CCTV from the driveway of Olorato’s building shows the last time she was seen alive, leaving her home to meet ‘John’.
In the video, she walks towards a white Volkswagen Polo and hesitates as she reaches the left back door. John had come with a friend.
Four days after Olorato was killed, police found the car in a different province with traces of her blood splattered across the back seat.
CCTV showed Olorato walking to a car for what she thought was a date
One suspect was shot dead but the second man is still on the run
Philangenkosi Sibongokuhle Makanya – ‘John’ – was shot dead by police in KwaZulu-Natal shortly after they found the vehicle.
The second man in the car, Bongani Mthimkhulu, is still on the run.
The two men have since been identified as part of a dangerous criminal syndicate that lure young women out on dates and rob them at gunpoint.
“Within the four days, the investigating officers received 94 calls from women who were raising concerns and identifying the suspects as those they once met,” South African Police Service deputy national commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told Sky News.
“It was unfortunate about Olorato, but others were released after being robbed.”
Olorato’s friends say she ‘ticked all the boxes when it came to being careful’
A 24-year-old student who survived an armed robbery at the hands of Olorato’s suspected killers says she was happy to see Philangenkosi killed but she’s still scared for her life.
“As women, we are not even safe anymore – we can’t even walk freely,” she says.
“The moment you leave your house you wonder if you will make it back alive. I don’t feel comfortable walking around the street. I leave the house and then turn back.
“Even when I’m home, I still don’t feel safe and always want to keep myself locked indoors,” she says with a shaky voice – choosing to remain anonymous.
After meeting other victims of the syndicate, she was shocked to hear details of almost identical abductions.
“This other girl was surprised because we went through the exact same situation. They also approached her with the same tactic – let me take you out to lunch to get to know you – only for her to be robbed.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world – an average 15 women are killed a day, many by their intimate partners.
According to police statistics, more than 5,500 women were murdered in South Africa last year. An increase of 33.8% compared with the previous year.
“South Africa has six times the average rate of femicide – hundreds of women have already been killed since Olorato’s murder,” says Cameron Kasambala from Women for Change.
The advocacy group raises awareness of rising cases of femicide and gender-based violence across South Africa.
Campaigner Cameron Kasambala says many femicide cases take a long time to be resolved
In the hours after her murder, Olorato’s friends contacted Women for Change to share her missing poster after receiving little immediate help from the local police station.
“I think her friends were the real heroes in that moment,” says Cameron.
“Two police stations that were 10 minutes apart, one finds a body and one has a missing case, don’t make a connection for hours. It’s not the most reassuring police work. And if the friends had not come forward, how long would it have taken?
“Unfortunately, Olorato’s case is an exception. Most cases are not handled that quickly.”
Read more from Sky News:
Pictures reveal inside of sunken Bayesian superyacht
Hundreds protest against billionaire Bezos’s wedding
Olorato’s friends say she would be ‘proud to know that her name has not gone in vain’
Olorato’s friends are still contending with the violence of her death – what it means for their daily lives and how they navigate their safety as women in South Africa.
“It is difficult to process and difficult to believe. This is somebody who ticked all the boxes when it came to being careful – being meticulous, checking her surroundings and leaving clues,” says Olorato’s friend, Koketso Sejosengoe.
“It shows it can happen to anybody no matter how safe you are. It is happening to the average girl. They are being targeted. These men know what they are doing and who they are looking for.”
“In the purest sense, Olorato wanted women to be safe and wanted women to be protected,” adds Koketso.
“I think she would be very proud to know that her name has not gone in vain and that her death is standing for something – that there will be change that comes with this.”
Major heatwaves across southern Europe have left Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece in sweltering conditions of more than 40C (104F).
Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert for extreme heat and risk of wildfires on Sunday, with temperatures in Lisbon expected to exceed 42C (107F).
In parts of southern Spain, temperatures are well above average, with 42C also expected in Seville and other cities.
The country’s meteorological service says June is likely to be the hottest Spain has experienced since records began.
In several Italian regions, including Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia, and Umbria, outdoor work was banned during peak hours of sun on Sunday, with trade unions pushing for the measures to be extended and rolled out nationwide.
Twenty-one out of 27 cities were under the highest possible heat alert, including Rome, Milan, and Naples.
Read more
What’s actually happening underneath your sunburn
Greece has already been plagued by wildfires this summer, with one breaking out south of Athens on Thursday, and several on the island of Chios last Sunday.
Near Athens, authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 helicopters, and 12 planes, with 40 people evacuated from the highest-risk areas.
A woman was arrested on suspicion of unintentional arson after wildfires spread across brush and pastureland for three days on Chios.
Flames rise above Thymari, near Athens, after wildfires broke out on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Tourists battle scorching temperatures at the Parthenon in Greece on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Scientists link increasing frequencies of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, and storms to climate change.
In France and Germany, at least three people died amid stormy conditions.
A ridge of high pressure above central and western Europe is driving the scorching conditions, says Sky News meteorologist Chris England.
Hotter-than-normal sea temperatures, dry land, and surface winds are also partly to blame, he added.
Tourists in Retiro Park in Madrid on Saturday. Pic: AP
Locals fan themselves in Lisbon on Saturday. Pic: AP
UK heatwave also likely
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
UK heatwaves explained
The UK is halfway through a four-day amber heat health alert, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s (86F) on Tuesday.
Heat health alerts are not public weather warnings – but are instead designed to prepare health and social care bodies for the potential impact on their infrastructure and vulnerable groups.
Heatwave thresholds are likely to be met on Monday and Tuesday, which vary between 28C (82F) in the south of England and 25C (77F) across the rest of the country.
A British-Israeli soldier has been killed while fighting in Gaza, Israeli media reports said.
He was named locally as Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, from the city of Ra’anana.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is “looking into reports that an IDF soldier who died in combat in Gaza is a British national”.
The IDF soldier, who served in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed by an explosive device on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported.
The paper said Mr Rosenfeld moved to Israel from London with his family 11 years ago.
More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel’s war against Hamas began on 7 October 2023, more than 400 of them during the fighting in Gaza.
The war began when the militant group launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has devastated the enclave and killed more than 56,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
Read more from Sky News:
Glastonbury organiser says anti-IDF chants ‘crossed a line’
Trump says ‘very wealthy group’ has agreed to buy TikTok
It came as Donald Trump called for progress in ceasefire talks in the war between Israel and Hamas.
“MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” the US president wrote on social media on Sunday.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
On Friday Mr Trump raised expectations by claiming there could be an agreement within the next week.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike