More than 20 thousand people feared dead in Libya due to floods, survivor tells painful story

Flood In Libya: A powerful storm named Daniel has caused terrible devastation in eastern Libya. Thousands of people have been affected by this. More than 5300 people have been confirmed dead due to the storm. Hundreds of people are still missing. The storm was so severe that it broke many dams and caused floods. The maximum destruction occurred in Derna city. The entire city has been destroyed due to the flood.  

Thousands of people have died in the devastating floods in Derna and many were swept away into the sea. Meanwhile, rescue workers have demanded more body bags. Due to the storm, many parts of the Mediterranean city were destroyed by the strong torrent of water and the dams built above the city broke. Multi-storey buildings collapsed with families sleeping inside.

The number of dead could double
Meanwhile, Libyan Civil Aviation Minister Hichem Abu Chakiuat told news agency Reuters that more than 5,300 dead have been counted so far. He said that this number is likely to increase further and may even double.

Derna Mayor Abdulmenem al-Gathi told Saudi Al Arabiya Television that the estimated number of deaths in the flood-ravaged city could reach 18,000 to 20,000.

‘I didn’t think the situation would be so terrible’
Derna resident Mahmoud Abdulkarim told Mutaz Ali, a journalist in Tripoli, that after the collapse of the dam, he had to leave his apartment on the first floor on time. Couldn’t get out. Due to this he lost his mother and brother. He thought it was normal rain and did not think that the situation would be dire.

According to Abdulkareem, seeing the situation worsening, his mother and brother decided to leave their apartment and as soon as they came out of the house, they were washed away in the flood waters.

No water, no electricity
Journalist Mabrouka Elmesmeri, who was out of the city on Tuesday, told Al Jazeera about the flood situation, ‘There is no water, no electricity, no petrol, The entire city has been destroyed.’He said, "The buildings where people were present were washed away in the flood. People who were trying to escape from Derna also got stuck there due to the roads being blocked." He said that some families had taken shelter in schools.

10 thousand people missing
Officials have put the number of missing people at 10,000. At the same time, United Nations agency OCHA says that the number of missing people could be at least 5,000. The beach was littered with clothes, toys, furniture, shoes and other things washed up from homes.

Roads covered with mud
He said the roads were covered with deep mud and were strewn with uprooted trees and hundreds of damaged cars. A car was burnt to ashes and was stuck in the balcony of the second floor of the building.

Bodies were floating in the water
31-year-old accountant Hussam Abdelgawi told the BBC that it was 2.30 in the night and it was dark outside. He was about to sleep when he felt water beneath his feet.  He opened the front door of his house, due to which more water flooded the house and the hinges of the door also broke. He told that dead bodies of women and children were floating in front of us. Cars and houses were hit by water.

Bodies were floating in the water
Some bodies were floating in the water and came to our house. The water also carried away Hussam and Ibrahim. He told that dogs were barking there, which gave him a signal that something was wrong.

People were screaming in fear
Amna Al Amin Abbasis, a 23-year-old medical student who was born and raised in Derna, said,  Drops of rain were falling outside, she was walking with her four brothers -Sitting in my apartment in the towers of a seven-story building next to the beach with my sisters, playing games and scrolling on my phone.  

Amna told that at around 2.30 there was a very loud noise. My brother said that he could see the road filled with water. As the water rose, neighbors started migrating upstream. Aamna grabbed the cat and four passports and they moved from their first floor apartment to the third floor apartment. Everyone was screaming out of fear and praying.

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