Libya floods kills 6,000, victims buried in mass graves

The death toll from Storm Daniel, an “extreme weather event,” that caused the Sunday Libya flooding stands at 6,000, CNN has reported.

Saadeddin Wakil, the health ministry undersecretary of the Unity Government in Tripoli, one of two rival governments operating in the country, said, “The death toll rose to over 6,000 people as of Wednesday morning local time.”

The agency reports that mortuaries are full in hospitals that remain out of service despite the desperate need to treat survivors of the disaster, according to staff.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said his government was ready to provide all essential support to the Libyan people hit by the devastating floods that followed the Mediterranean storm Daniel on Sunday.

“Nigeria is ready to provide all necessary support to assist the Libyan people in overcoming this harrowing tragedy,” read a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Wednesday.

In a separate report, the BBC reported that there have been desperate calls for more humanitarian support as victims lie wrapped in body bags and others have been buried in mass graves.

“The sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies,” Hisham Chkiouat, a minister in Libya’s eastern administration, said, according to the BBC.

“In Egypt, the government buried 87 Egyptian victims who died in Libya, according to the country’s emigration ministry.

“Around 10,000 more are missing, potentially either swept out to sea or buried beneath rubble that’s strewn throughout the city, once home to over 100,000 people, authorities say,” the agency added.

The United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration in Libya stated that more than 30,000 people have been displaced by the flooding in Derna.

The significant damage to infrastructure in the region has made some stricken regions inaccessible to humanitarian groups. Only two out of the seven entry points to Derna are now available.

Emergency teams are searching through piles of debris for survivors and bodies as officials attempt to honour Islamic beliefs that the dead should receive burial rites within three days.

President Tinubu extended his profound condolences to the government and people of Libya in the aftermath of the flooding.

He commiserated with all families who have lost loved ones in what he described as a “monumental disaster.” He sent his best wishes for a speedy recovery to all injured during the tragic incident.

The Nigerian leader assured the Libyan people of Nigeria’s “unwavering solidarity and goodwill during these trying times,” adding that “this disheartening loss of lives, homes, livelihoods, and critical infrastructure remains a shared grief that further unites the people of both nations.”