The official spokesman for the Emergency Crisis and Rapid Response Committee of the Libyan government appointed by the House of Representatives, Muhammad Al-Jarh, announced that 58 cases of infection had been recorded among the relief teams and agencies working in the city of Derna, with high temperatures, diarrhea, and other illness symptoms.
Al-Jarh said during a press conference on Tuesday evening that “the infections are not related to an epidemic, but rather to some infectious diseases resulting from pollution” that the Libyan city witnessed as a result of the devastating floods.
He added: “There are those who are trying to exploit the human tragedy in Derna to serve certain interests,” denying the authorities’ intention to evacuate the stricken city of its residents, stressing “the necessity of cordoning off some affected areas and isolating them, so that relief teams can work there in a smooth manner and without disruptions.”
In the city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, east of Libya, with a population of 100,000 people, floods resulting from the collapse of two dams under the pressure of heavy rains brought by Hurricane Daniel on September 10 caused the death of approximately 3,338 people, according to the latest official interim toll announced. The Minister of Health in the Libyan East, Othman Abdel Jalil, left a scene reminiscent of a brutal war zone.
On Monday, the United Nations announced that its agencies, especially the World Health Organization, are trying to “prevent the spread of diseases and avoid a second devastating crisis in the region.”
United Nations agencies have warned that those affected, 30,000 of whom are homeless, are in urgent need of clean water, food and basic supplies, in light of the increasing risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dehydration and malnutrition.
After the collapse of the two dams on Sunday night, water that rose meters swept away parts of the coastal city, in what some described as a “tsunami.”
Dozens of bodies are recovered daily, buried under the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods, or swept away by the sea and buried in a horrific scene.
2023-09-20 08:17:27
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