Member of the Permanent Libyan Mission to the United Nations, Ayman Badr, who is from the city of Derna, told Sky News Arabia that the number of deaths in Derna has reached more than 7 thousand so far and the numbers are still increasing every hour.
A previous government tally stated that 5,300 people were killed in Derna, the Libyan region most affected by Storm “Daniel.”
In the same context, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the number is no less than five thousand.
But officials in Libya believe the number is much higher, and some estimates reach about 10,000.
The death tolls announced by officials have varied in previous times, but they are all in the thousands.
The torrents resulting from Storm Daniel wiped out vast areas of the city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
On Sunday evening, it swept through a riverbed that is usually dry, causing the collapse of dams and multi-storey buildings that contained sleeping families inside.
The extent of the destruction is clearly visible in Derna, where the densely populated city center, built along a seasonal riverbed in the shape of a wide, flat crescent, has become submerged in muddy water that sparkles in the sun after buildings were swept away.
The Minister of Civil Aviation in the government of eastern Libya, Hisham Abu Shekiwat, previously told Reuters: “The sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies.”
He added: “So far, we have counted more than 5,300 dead, and the number is likely to rise significantly, and perhaps double, because the number of missing people also reaches thousands.”
He continued: “Tens of thousands of people have become homeless. We need international aid. Libya does not have the necessary experience to deal with such disasters.”
Tariq Al-Kharaz, spokesman for the eastern Libyan authorities, said that 3,200 bodies had been recovered, of which 1,100 were not identified.
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