The number of flood victims in the Libyan city of Derna has exceeded more than 5,300, according to what the Minister of Civil Aviation in the eastern Libyan government announced on Wednesday.
The mayor of Derna expects the death toll to reach between 18 and 20 thousand in one of the worst disasters witnessed by Libya.
Beiboon officials monitored about 400 foreigners among the victims, most of whom were Sudanese and Egyptians. The Egyptian Ministry of Immigration said on Wednesday that Cairo had returned 87 bodies of citizens who died in Libya as a result of Storm Daniel, according to Reuters.
While the search for missing persons in Derna continues, Egyptian villages live in bitter wait for good news, or painful news that will be the end of the hell of anticipation. But there is no certain answer.
Muhammad, a resident of Kafr Mit Siraj in Menoufia Governorate, north of Cairo, says: “I just want to know, is my brother dead or still alive? If he dies, I will bury him with my hands.”
The last news he heard about his brother was that he was trying to take shelter, along with a number of his fellow construction workers, from flood waters, and they were stranded on the roof of a house in Derna.
The villages of Kafr Mit Siraj, Jiris and Shama are among an unknown number of Egyptian villages whose sons went out to work in Libya in pursuit of a livelihood.
Muhammad tried to contact the Egyptian authorities to find out the fate of his brother and whether he could be saved. The information he obtained suggests that his sister, like other Egyptians in Libya, is among the deceased.
“They simply told me, ‘Okay, may God compensate for your brother. There is not much hope. May God give you patience.’”
Ahmed talks about his three nephews, the eldest of whom is no more than 8 years old. He says that his brother traveled two years ago just for their sake because his work as a farmer was not enough to support their daily needs, especially with the high prices.
“I beg you to have mercy on my elderly father and mother, and they feel people’s pain. Every hour that passes without certain information, we die a thousand times. And every call drags our soul with it.” Muhammad appeals to the authorities in Egypt and Libya to reveal the truth about his brother, or at least confirm his death and send his body. To bury him.
On Wednesday, the government of eastern Libya expected the death toll to rise to more than 5,300 in Derna after it was exposed to catastrophic floods.
The Minister of Health in the Libyan government-designate, Othman Abdel Jalil, said on Monday, “The conditions in Derna are becoming more tragic, and there are no final statistics on the number of victims. We have not been able to reach many neighborhoods, and I expect the number of deaths to rise to 10,000.”
The International Organization for Migration in Libya said on Wednesday that at least 30,000 were displaced from Derna.
“The lives of our children are cheap in their country and outside their country,” with this phrase Reda Abdel Dayem Suleiman began his talk to the Al-Hurra website.
Three of his children are missing in Derna, and their mother had a heart attack when she heard the news.
Also from the village of Jiris, in Menoufia Governorate, Reda speaks with difficulty from inside the hospital where his wife is lying: “I left the world with three children, Mahmoud, Ahmed, and Abdul Karim, and they decided to travel to Libya with the young men.”
Reda says that the authorities in Egypt informed them unofficially of the high number of deceased Egyptians in Libya, and that most of those with no news could be counted among the deceased, but they did not announce it officially until the data and numbers were confirmed.
Reda and all his family members, he says, live in an empty house except for a sheet spread on the dirt floor, small pillows, a few utensils, and a gas stove. His children went to work in Libya in the hope of earning some money and improving the family’s livelihood.
“My children’s circumstances were very bad. If they had found a job here, they would not have traveled. But no one can prevent what is written.”
The annual inflation rate in Egypt reached 39.7 percent last August, according to official figures on Sunday, which is a record level while the country is suffering from a stifling economic crisis.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics reported an annual increase of 71.9 percent in food prices, 15.2 percent in transportation prices, and 23.6 percent in clothing prices.
Egypt is experiencing an economic crisis that has worsened since last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid a shortage in hard currency reserves, high inflation, and the pound losing more than half of its value against the dollar within one year.
Mariana Girgis, who lives in the village of Shama, never thought that she would lose her husband, Abanoub, less than three years after their marriage.
She told Al-Hurra website in a hoarse voice: “I can’t imagine how he felt in the last moments of his life. Surely he was afraid and sad?”
Her husband left her with two children. “His dream was to build a house and buy land to farm it… And I sold all my gold and my network so that he could pay the costs of travel and realize his dream… But the dream went away with its owner.”
Mariana says that “individuals affiliated with the Egyptian government contacted her to verify some information regarding her husband, but they did not give her confirmed information about him.” She adds, “I can’t imagine that I will never see him again.”
She still has hope that her husband is alive. Mariana tried to communicate with a number of his colleagues who lived with him in Libya, but to no avail. Communications were cut off with all of them.
A statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday, confirmed that it is following up on rescue efforts for hurricane victims in Libya, and 84 of the Egyptian victims have been identified and transported by air to the homeland.
The Foreign Ministry statement stated that the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi is coordinating with the health and security authorities in the city of Derna and the Libyan Red Crescent, with the aim of determining the exact numbers of Egyptian victims and injured, and working to rescue survivors and shelter them despite the difficult circumstances surrounding rescue operations due to the collapse of infrastructure.
According to the statement, the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi formed a crisis cell immediately after the disaster occurred to follow up on the repercussions with the aim of providing urgent relief to the victims and their families and logistical support.
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2023-09-14 03:05:47
