‘Dam of death’: Libya survivors had just minutes to escape tsunami-like torrent
The sheer numbers of people dead or unaccounted for in the Libyan city of Derna is overwhelming survivors, who say they had minutes to get away before the coastal city was devastated by a tsunami-like torrent.
Sky News TV crews have reached the port city where people have been using their bare hands to dig for loved ones.
Reports suggest almost a quarter of the city has been washed away and reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland, following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains.
The number of fatalities has soared to 11,300, according to the Libyan Red Crescent, while a further 10,100 people have been reported missing in the Mediterranean city, and hopes of finding survivors are fading.
More than 38,640 individuals are displaced in the northeast of the country, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya said on Friday.
Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir, reporting from one of the dams that collapsed, said it is now known as “the dam of death“.
She said though it has been days since the disaster struck, residents are still in a complete state of shock – with some survivors coming to the site to look at the catastrophic scale of the tragedy the dam unleashed on them in a matter of moments.
“The flood has completely changed their lives. One person told me: ‘This is not a natural disaster, this is a catastrophe’,” she said.
Libya floods – latest updates: Desperate search for survivors continues amid devastation
‘Strong smell in the air of corpses’
Untold numbers could be buried under drifts of mud and debris across the city, including overturned cars and chunks of concrete, metres high.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from the centre of Derna, near the port, said the eastern Libyan city was like “one big graveyard” – a mass of wrecked lives, flattened buildings and upended vehicles.
Vast multi-storey buildings have been ripped off their foundations and smothered by volumes of mud.
“Everywhere you look here – it’s 360° destruction,” she said. “There is a strong smell in the air of corpses.”
“The force of the water was so strong from the two dams which collapsed that the locals say it sounded like an explosion, after explosion, after explosion,” said Crawford.
“Massive tonnes of rocks, whole apartment blocks, just swept away. There are three bridges that have been swept away. Building after building has been levelled or smashed through.
“They had – according to those who survived – about 20 minutes to get out of the away of this torrent of water.”
She added: “As we walk through the mountains of rubble, boulders and rocks, we have to keep reminding ourselves these were once people’s homes, this was once a street packed with shops and malls. Even the road is non existent.
“There is no sign of any significant international aid here at all. There is very little evidence of any Libyan aid workers.”
Horror as girl’s body is found
Down at the port, she said the blue Mediterranean sea has turned a murky brown.
Rescuers have been sifting through the wreckage, including the sea to recover bodies.
There was a collective intake of horror when the “unmistakeable shape of a small human,” was discovered, Crawford said.
It was the corpse of a young child – maybe aged 10 or 11. Everyone witnessing the truly awful scene was stunned into silence, she said, describing it as “utterly dreadful”.
Two relief workers raced down carrying a black body bag and the child – a girl – was hurriedly placed inside it.
Cholera outbreak fears
The United Nations aid chief warned on Friday the country needs equipment to find those trapped in sludge and wrecked buildings – and voiced fears of a cholera outbreak.
“Priority areas are shelter, food, key primary medical care because of the worry of cholera, the worry of lack of clean water,” he said.
He added suggestions to create a maritime corridor to deliver aid could be a viable option given the city borders the Mediterranean Sea.
The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure and has made it difficult for rescuers and humanitarian groups to reach stricken areas.
People searching for relatives say they had plenty of warning about Storm Daniel before it hit, but then followed a catastrophic culmination of human error.
Gandi Mohammed Hammoud, a structural engineer, said it was down to negligence, adding plenty of warning had been issued by experts about the poor state of the city’s two dams.
“They should have known,” he told Sky News, as he looked aghast at the death and destruction.
‘Unexploded weapons pose risk’
He said he watched as his neighbours and friends screamed in terror as the torrent of water tore apart their homes and flats.
“Then it went silent – which means they died,” he said. “We saw some friends literally being swept away in front of us.”
He added: “Someone should pay for these deaths. Someone should be held accountable for what happened here.”
A UN official has said most casualties could have been avoided.
“If there would have been a normal operating meteorological service, they could have issued the warnings,” World Meteorological Organization (WMO) head Petteri Taalas told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.
“The emergency management authorities would have been able to carry out the evacuation of the people, and we could have avoided most of the human casualties.”
Officials have warned unexploded ordnances – remnants of war such as unexploded bombs, mines, shells and grenades, common in some parts of Libya, pose a risk for those involved in recovering the dead.
‘Bodies are littering the streets’
Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna.
Those in the region are calling it a disaster of “biblical proportions” – though the number killed is still not known.
Morgues are full in hospitals and are overwhelmed as people race to bury the dead.
Most of the dead have been buried in mass graves outside Derna, while others are being transferred to nearby towns and cities.
“Bodies are littering the streets, washing back on shore and are buried under collapsed buildings and debris. In just two hours, one of my colleagues counted over 200 bodies on the beach near Derna,” said Bilal Sablouh, regional forensics manager for Africa for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The ICRC has sent a cargo flight to Benghazi with 5,000 body bags.
Search parties have struggled to bring in heavy equipment as the floods have washed out or blocked roads leading to the area.
Rescue and relief operations have also been complicated by political divides in the country.
The flooding swept away entire families and communities on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country, which has been at war since a 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Despite a 2020 ceasefire that ended most major warfare, allowing roads and flights to reopen, territory remains controlled by rival armed factions.
An internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) is based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration operates in the east, including Derna.
“The instability, poor governance, corruption and mafia-style politicking including a network of people-smuggling gangs has all conspired to make this tragedy,” Crawford added.