by Ayman al-Warfali and Ahmed Elumami
NEAR DERNA, Libya (Reuters) – Difficult searches resumed on Wednesday in Derna to try to find thousands of missing people swept away in the floods and torrents of mud caused by storm Daniel, which passed over the northeast of the Libya has left more than 5,000 dead, a toll expected to rise.
The storm that hit Libya’s Mediterranean coast over the weekend broke dams near Derna. At least a quarter of the city was submerged under water, which swept away buildings and their inhabitants inside.
More than 5,300 deaths have so far been recorded and this number could double, a member of the executive governing eastern Libya, Abou Chkiouat, told Reuters. Around 10,000 people are missing, many of them likely swept out to sea.
The sea “constantly brings back bodies by the dozens,” said Abou Chkiouat.
Reuters journalists who visited Derna on Tuesday saw numerous corpses lying in the hospital corridors. Residents looked under the shrouds in search of their missing loved ones, while rescuers continued to bring in more and more dead.
One resident, Moustafa Salem, told Reuters he had already lost 30 members of his family.
Humanitarian aid convoys and trucks carrying bulldozers were delivered to Derna on Wednesday.
This city of tens of thousands of inhabitants is devastated, its streets covered in mud, debris and overturned vehicles.
Satellite images taken before and after the disaster show the extent of the damage. A river running through the center of the city has multiplied in volume and the buildings that ran along it have simply disappeared.
Many other neighborhoods also suffered, drowned under water.
Relief operations are complicated by political and institutional divisions in Libya, with two rival governments, one officially recognized by the international community in Tripoli and the other installed in Benghazi, a large city in the east of the country where Derna.
International aid is trying to organize itself. France, in particular, announced on Tuesday the sending of civil security teams who will set up a field hospital made up of around forty civilian and military personnel.
Northeast Libya is an oil-rich region and the four major export port terminals, closed on Saturday, have reopened, oil services company Al Omran announced on Wednesday. Brega, Es Sidra and Ras Lanouf have been operating again since Tuesday and Zoueitina resumed operations on Wednesday morning.
(With Ahmad Ghaddar in London, written by Tom Perry and Angus McDowall, French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by)
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