Libya floods: Hope remains survivors can found after Derna dam disaster as ‘cries heard’ beneath rubble
Everyone in Derna is desperate for good news right now after days and days of utter misery and collective, searing suffering.
So, the suggestion there are noises from below ground, under a house encased in mud and rubble, is grasped eagerly.
No matter how unrealistic, plain miraculous and completely staggering this may seem to others, those in Derna want survivors.
Maybe they just need hope, hope that this agony they’re all going through can somehow be assuaged.
We watch as a growing crowd of volunteers, health workers, troops and neighbours rush to the scene as word spreads.
A young volunteer wearing a blue hospital gown tells the fire crews there that he has heard cries from a woman – twice.
“How certain are you,” I ask him.
“I’m sure,” he replies. “100 per cent.”
People involved in the rescue operation are clinging onto hope
People spent hours digging by hand in the desperate hope of finding survivors
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But looking at the patch which was once home to three little girls who were nine, 10 and 11, it’s hard to believe anyone could still be alive under there.
It is a mound of thick mud, so hard and impenetrable, it takes several of those gathered to chip away at the top layer with shovels and pick axes.
It becomes apparent this is all the equipment they have to hand to try to shift the mountain of debris which has been deposited on top of the home.
A crowd of volunteers, health workers, troops and neighbours rushed to the site after news spread of noises beneath the rubble
A young volunteer told fire crew he heard cries from a woman twice at the site
Even the house itself is not thought to be in its original position.
Neighbours are telling the rescue crews that the torrent of water which swept through Derna actually shifted the entire building from its foundations and moved it several metres.
It seems to have been partially protected by another huge building in front and several established palm trees but there are a number of upturned cars around it – and tonnes and tonnes of other debris carpeting it.
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What happened in Derna?
Another man steps forward to say he’s been contacted by a friend of the family who once lived there.
The family friend insists he was phoned by one of the little girls. She says she’s trapped under the house and she’s using her father’s abandoned phone which is somehow still working.
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The chance that a mobile phone might still be working more than a week on from the disaster doesn’t strike them as impossible.
Nor does the idea that a little girl may have somehow be able to make it work in darkness beneath ground.
Hope – even the slightest glimmer of it – fuels this frenetic search which gathers more and more pace and more and more people.
They dig by hands for hours with growing numbers of people taking part, shifting rubble, concrete slabs and pulling out even a fridge from beneath.
They find a cavity and begin shouting down it calling for silence. Someone says they hear a responding bang and celebrations erupt. It generates even more enthusiasm for digging and even more people gather.
People have been digging by hand for hours, shifting rubble, concrete slabs and even pulling out a fridge from beneath.
Volunteers waiting in silence as hope begins to fade
The search goes on by hand until dusk until a mechanical digger – one of the very few – is encouraged to come to the area.
It shifts huge slabs of concrete but still, there’s nothing.
No one has heard a noise for a long time by now. Despondency creeps in and slowly the crowd dissipates. Soon there is just a rump of people still digging by hand.
The search continues by nightfall – but despondency creeps in, as the crowd slowly dissipates, leaving just a handful digging by hand
They slowly move away one by one. In truth it was only hope which fed this search.
The rescue team feel they’ve failed…but with so much stacked against them from the off, in truth they, the little girl and all the people of this city, stood little chance.
Alex Crawford was reporting from the east Libyan port city of Derna with cameraman Jake Britton and producer Chris Cunningham.
At least 36 people have been killed after a fire engulfed several buildings at a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said another 279 people were reported missing. He said 29 people remained in hospital.
About 900 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters after the blaze – Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years – broke out at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the city’s Tai Po district.
Three men have since been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, broadcaster RTHK reported.
Pics: AP
Meanwhile, fire chiefs said the high temperatures were making it challenging for crews to mount rescue operations.
Mr Lee said the fire was “coming under control” shortly after midnight.
The blaze was upgraded to a level 5 alarm, the highest level of severity, as night fell.
Pics: AP
The dead included one firefighter, officials said earlier.
A number of other firefighters were said to have been hurt while trying to tackle the flames as they ripped through the 31-storey towers.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: AP
Records show the Wang Fuk Court site consists of eight blocks, with almost 2,000 apartments housing around 4,800 residents, including many elderly people. It was built in the 1980s and has recently been undergoing a major renovation.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
The fire, which broke out at 2.51pm local time, had spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting set up around the exterior of the complex.
It was not known how the fire started, but officials said it began on the external scaffolding of one of the buildings before spreading inside and to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Flames and smoke were still pouring out of many windows as night fell.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the firefighter who died, and extended his sympathies to the families of the victims, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He also urged an “all-out” effort to minimise casualties and losses.
The UK’s foreign secretary described the fire as “truly devastating and deeply depressing”. Yvette Cooper said: “The UK sends heartfelt condolences to all the families affected and to the people of Hong Kong.”
Tai Po is in the northern part of Hong Kong, and close to the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
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Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects.
However, the government said earlier this year it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
The blaze is the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since the deaths of 41 people in a commercial building in Kowloon in November 1996.
That fire was later found to have been caused by welding during internal renovations, with a public inquiry yielding sweeping updates to building standards and fire safety regulations in the city’s high-rise offices, shops and homes.
Two military personnel who were shot near the White House in Washington DC have died.
A suspect has been taken into custody and the area secured, police said.
The White House was placed into lockdown, while US President Donald Trump is away in Florida.
Washington DC shooting latest updates
Pics: AP
Mr Trump initially posted on his Truth Social platform to say the two National Guardsmen had been “critically wounded”, adding that the “animal” that shot them “is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price”.
But West Virginia’s governor said both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries.
Patrick Morrisey added: “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country. … Our entire state grieves with their families, their loved ones, and the Guard community. West Virginia will never forget their service or their sacrifice, and we will demand full accountability for this horrific act.”
Pic: AP
Police tape cordoned off the scene, while agents from the US Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby.
Emergency personnel cordon off an area near where National Guard soldiers were shot. Pics: AP
The Joint DC Task Force confirmed it was responding to an incident in the vicinity of the White House.
The DC Police Department posted on X: “Critical Incident: MPD is on the scene of a shooting at 17th and I Street, NW. Please avoid the area.”
In an update, the force said: “The scene is secured. One suspect is in custody.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation.
“The president has been briefed.”
Mr Trump was at his resort in Palm Beach ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, while US vice president JD Vance was in Kentucky.
Flights arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were temporarily halted due to its proximity to the scene of the shooting, the US Federal Aviation Administration said.
Hundreds of National Guard members have been patrolling the nation’s capital after Mr Trump issued an emergency order in August, which federalised the local police force and sent in the guard from eight states and the District of Columbia.
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