The Libyan authorities called on Tuesday for the delivery of humanitarian aid “as quickly as possible” by the international community in the face of flooding in the east of the country caused by storm “Daniel”. The number of missing people is around 10,000 people and there are already more than 2,000 confirmed deaths.
Musa al Koni, one of the vice-presidents of the Libyan Presidential Council, based in the capital Tripoli, stressed that the authorities “want the Help reaches as many people as quickly as possible“, according to the official LANA news agency.
“We are asking for help from all countries that we know have experience in providing relief,” he said, before revealing that Spain, Italy and Canada “have expressed their availability to support relief operations” in the east of the country.
According to the government, still It is not possible to know with certainty the number of victims and damage. Forecasts indicate at least 25% of the city of Derna destroyed.
“We do not have a definitive assessment” on the number of deaths, but “the number of missing people is around 10 thousand”, declared the head of the IFRC Tamer Ramadan, during a press conference held in Geneva Switzerland.
Storm Daniel
Storm Daniel hit eastern Libya on Sunday afternoon, particularly the coastal towns of Jabal al-Akhdar (north-east) and Benghaziwhere a curfew was declared and schools were closed.
Described by experts as a “extreme phenomenon in terms of the amount of water that rained”Storm Daniel also caused at least 27 deaths in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Eastern Libya is home to the major oil fields and terminals. The National Petroleum Company (NOC) said “state of maximum alert” and “suspended flights” between production sites where activity has been drastically reduced.
In Benghazi, the fourth largest city in the countrywith nearly 120 thousand inhabitants, is currently isolated on land after its roads and bridges were destroyed by torrential rains, and it is also without electricity or communications.
Two of its dams collapsed on Monday, releasing a total of 33 million cubic meters of water and leaving entire residential areas behind, local authorities created a field hospital.
According to the Libyan National Meteorological Center, rainfall exceeded 400 milliliters per houra value that had not been recorded for four decades.
The EU is “ready to help”
The high representative of European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, regretted the damage caused by cyclone Daniel and torrential rains in Libya and said the EU was ready to help the country.
“I am saddened by the images of devastation in Libya, ravaged by extreme weather conditions which have caused the tragic loss of many lives. The EU is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to help,” Borrell said in a published message on his online account. social X, formerly called Twitter.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a publication on the same social network, sent the “sincere condolences, on behalf of the EU, to the Libyan people and the families of the victims.”
An open airlift to transport the seriously injured
The Libyan Air Ambulance Medical Evacuation Service announced opening of an air bridge between Tripoli and the eastern region to transport seriously injured people, amid the chaos in some towns in the east of the country due to severe flooding which, in the case of Derna, destroyed two dams.
A International Organization for Migration (IOM) I specify, in a press release, that more than 2,000 people living in Benghazi affected by the rains and are now in the city’s schools, after the floods forced the evacuation of patients from the Al Baida medical center.
“The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure“, including the road network, affected the telecommunications network and caused the displacement of at least 410 families, around 2,050 people and 35 migrants”, detailed the organization, before emphasizing that there are reports of deaths and injuries, but no data is confirmed. civil servants.
A few hours earlier, the Libyan parallel governments had thanked the international community for support expressed after the passage of storm Danielwhich also left around 9,000 missing after hitting Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey last week, where around 30 deaths were confirmed.
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