On September 15, in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, a man sat in front of a house destroyed by floods. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated on the 15th that Hurricane Daniel has displaced more than 38,640 people in eastern Libya. Published by Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ahmed Gabel)
Xinhua News Agency, Derna, Libya, September 15th: “In a few seconds, disaster destroys everything” – Libyan hurricane disaster caused severe humanitarian crisis
Xinhua News Agency reporter Pan Xiaojing Ibrahim Hadiya Majibli
It has been six days since the disaster occurred, and 40-year-old Mead Abdul Qasr, a resident of Derna, Libya, still cannot believe that he survived the floods.
“The floods started hitting the outer wall of my house at around 3 a.m. on the 10th. Then the dam suddenly burst and the floods rose violently, washing away everything in its path,” Cashel recalled. “My family was completely trapped by the water. , I luckily climbed to the top of the building and escaped. From then on, I never saw them again.”
On September 10, Hurricane Daniel made landfall on the Mediterranean coast of eastern Libya and caused floods, causing a large number of casualties in the eastern cities of Derna, Bayda and Shehat. The city of Derna, located 1,300 kilometers east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, is the hardest-hit area. Reporters in Derna saw that nearly a quarter of the city’s coastal area was destroyed by floods, the densely populated city center was severely damaged, and almost all buildings were washed away by floods.
Nizar Hunaid, an actor from the city of Derna, lost his wife and two children in the floods. “The moment the dam collapsed, the floodwaters rushed directly to the roof of my house. I was rushed to the roof of a house four blocks away,” Hunaid said. “In just a few seconds, this disaster destroyed everything.”
“I can’t describe what happened. The flood rushed my mother and I into an abandoned house 200 meters away from our home. I carried my mother, who had leg problems, to the fourth floor and waited until the flood receded. I carried my mother Stay there and try to get home to other relatives,” Khalil Bushiha, a 30-year-old Derna resident, said as he lay in a hospital bed. “My family and I miraculously survived, but we lost Many friends.”
Usama Ali, spokesman for the emergency department of the Ministry of Health of the Libyan Government of National Accord, said on the 13th that the floods caused by the hurricane have killed more than 5,500 people, injured more than 7,000 people, and left about 10,000 people missing in eastern Libya. Due to the search and rescue efforts in the affected areas, Work is ongoing and the final number of casualties cannot yet be confirmed. Ahmed Mandari, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said the hurricane has caused the worst natural disaster in Libya since the last century.
The Libyan Housing and Utilities Project Implementation Agency said on the 15th that many roads and rainwater drainage pipes in eastern Libya were damaged by floods. Water supply networks in the affected areas were also destroyed by floods, leading to severe shortages of drinking water in the area.
Libyan volunteer Suleiman Mabrouk said the humanitarian situation facing the disaster area is extremely severe. “Communications here are weak, drinking water is severely lacking, there are only two bakeries operating in the city, generators are short of fuel, and it is difficult for patients with chronic diseases to obtain medicines.”
Haider Sayyeh, director of the Libyan National Center for Disease Control, told reporters that so far, 55 incidents of water pollution have been reported in the city of Derna due to some drinking water sources being mixed with sewage. Libyan medical authorities have warned that people should drink bottled water as much as possible to avoid the spread of the disease.
It has been six days since the disaster occurred, and there is little hope of finding survivors. Rescue teams and private volunteers from home and abroad are still searching in the vast rubble.
“We and all international rescue teams are shocked by the extent of the damage in this city,” Spanish humanitarian aid worker Steele Calvio told reporters. “From last night to today, we used advanced equipment to rescue some survivors, But hope of finding more survivors is slowly fading.”
Ahmed Ibrahim, a volunteer with the Libyan Red Crescent Society, said that currently, the Libyan Red Crescent Society is working hard to find survivors, recover the bodies of the victims, and distribute medicines and food donated by local and international agencies.
[Editor in charge: Wan Yueying]
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2023-09-17 00:58:00
