Thousands are feared to have died in floods that engulfed Libya’s east after Storm Daniel smashed into the North African country, swallowing whole neighborhoods and, with them, an unknown number of residents.
The city of Derna has been most acutely affected, after raging torrents of water tore through two dams and swept entire buildings into the sea. Othman Abdul Jalil, health minister and spokesman of the U.N.-recognized government in western Libya, told local television channel al-Masar that the situation continues to deteriorate in the eastern city, and at least 2,000 people have been found dead.
“I expect numbers of dead will rise to 10,000,” he told the channel early on Tuesday. The final death toll remains unknown, as many parts of the city remain inaccessible, he said. Derna is estimated to have had around 90,000 residents.
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