Libya floods leave 10,000 people still missing as 'huge' final death toll in the thousands is expected after entire neighbourhoods and dams were obliterated

 

Some 10,000 people are still missing in Libya after 'catastrophic' floods obliterated entire neighbourhoods, with officials warning the death toll is 'huge' and could end up in the thousands. 

 

Mediterranean storm Daniel hit the county on Sunday night and wreaked havoc and flash flooding in towns across in eastern Libya but the worst hit was Derna, where heavy rainfall broke dams and washed away entire communities.

 

There are still areas that rescuers are struggling to reach in the city and many of the thousands who are missing there are believed to have been carried away by the fast-paced and churning waters after two upstream dams burst.

 

 

Cars sit, one stacked on top of the other, after being carried by floodwaters in Derna, Libya, on Monday

 

 'The situation is catastrophic,' said Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister in Libya's eastern government. 'The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts (of the city). Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach.'

 

Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2,000 people may have perished in Derna alone. The Ambulance and Emergency Authority, which coordinates search and rescue efforts, said about 2,300 people died in Derna but did not clarify what that figure was based on.

 

 

Some 10,000 people are still missing in Libya after 'catastrophic' floods obliterated entire neighbourhoods, with officials warning the death toll is 'huge' and could end up in the thousands. Pictured: Destroyed vehicles and buildings line the streets in the eastern city of Derna in Libya on Monday

 

 

Read More Here:  Daily Mail