Flooding in eastern Libya displaces at least 30,000 people, according to UN agency
Derna (AP): Rescuers have found more than 2,000 bodies as of Wednesday in the wreckage of a Libyan city where floodwaters broke dams and washed away neighbourhoods. Officials fear the death toll could exceed 5,000 in the nation made vulnerable by years of turmoil and neglect.
The flooding caused significant infrastructure damage in the coastal city of Derna and displaced at least 30,000 people, the UN migration agency said. The damage is so extensive the city is almost inaccessible for humanitarian aid workers, the International Organisation for Migration said.
Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea.
More than 2,000 corpses were collected as of Wednesday morning and over half of them had been buried in mass graves in Derna, said eastern Libya's health minister, Othman Abduljaleel. Rescue teams were working day and night to recover many other bodies scattered in the streets and under the rubble in the city. Some bodies were retrieved from the sea.
The startling devastation pointed to the storm's intensity, but also Libya's vulnerability. The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west, and the result has been neglect of infrastructure in many areas.
The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to Derna. Of seven roads leading to the city, only two are accessible from its southern edge. Bridges over the river Derna that link the city's eastern and western parts have also collapsed, according to the UN's migration agency. The destruction has hampered the arrival of international rescue teams and humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed or damaged.
"The city of Derna was submerged by waves 7 metres high that destroyed everything in their path," Yann Fridez, head of the delegation of the International Committee for The Red Cross in Libya, told France24. "The human toll is enormous."
Local emergency responders, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents, continued digging through rubble looking for the dead. They also used inflatable boats and helicopters to retrieve bodies from the water and inaccessible areas.
"This is a disaster of every sense of the word," a wailing survivor who lost 11 members of his family told a local television station as a group of rescuers tried to calm him. The television station did not identify the survivor.
Ahmed Abdalla, a survivor who joined the search and rescue effort, said they were putting bodies in the yard of a local hospital before taking them for burial in mass graves at the city's sole intact cemetery.
"The situation is indescribable. Entire families dead in this disaster. Some were washed away to the sea," Abdalla said by phone from Derna.
Bulldozers worked over the past two days to fix and clear roads to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and heavy equipment urgently needed for the search and rescue operations. The city is 250 kilometres east of Benghazi, where international aid started to arrive on Tuesday.
Libya's neighbours, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, have sent rescue teams and humanitarian aid. President Joe Biden also said the United States is sending emergency funds to relief organisations and coordinating with the Libyan authorities and the UN to provide additional support.
Mohammed Abu-Lamousha, a spokesman for the east Libya interior ministry, on Tuesday put the death tally in Derna at more than 5,300, according to the state-run news agency. Dozens of others were reported dead in other towns in eastern Libya, he said.
Authorities have transferred hundreds of bodies to morgues in nearby towns. In the city of Tobruk, is 169 kilometres east of Derna, the Medical Center of Tobruk's morgue received more than 300 bodies for people killed in the Derna flooding; among them were 84 Egyptians, according to a list of dead obtained by The Associated Press.
Dozens of bodies of Egyptians killed in the floods were returned to their home country. A funeral for 22 Egyptians was underway Wednesday in their village of el-Sharif in the southern province of Beni Suef. Another four were buried in their hometown in the Nile Delta province of Beheira, local media in Egypt reported.
At least 10,000 people were still missing in the city, according to Tamer Ramadan, Libya envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He said 40,000 people have been displaced in Derna and other towns affected by the floods in eastern Libya.
Known for its white-painted houses and palm gardens, Derna is about 900 kilometres east of the capital of Tripoli. It is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter, who is allied with the east Libya government. The rival government in west Libya, based in Tripoli, is allied with other armed groups.
Much of Derna was built by Italy when Libya was under Italian occupation in the first half of the 20th century. The city was once a hub for extremist groups in the years of chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
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Vaishno Devi ropeway row: Two detained in fresh protest, FIR against eight
Katra/Jammu (PTI): Two representatives of labourers and shopkeepers in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district were on Wednesday detained after fresh protests at the Katra base camp against a proposed ropeway project along the trek route to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
According to police, an FIR was registered against eight people on Tuesday, a day after violent protests in Katra in which a policeman got injured.
Protestors, led by Bhupinder Singh and Sohan Chand, took out a rally against the proposed ropeway project.
However, officials said the police stopped the protestors from moving ahead, resulting in clashes between them.
Singh and Chand were detained and taken away from the spot in a police vehicle, they said, adding that the protestors were also dispersed from the scene.
Udhampur DIG (Reasi range) Rayees Bhat said the detainees were not arrested.
The demonstration was triggered following the registration of an FIR in the Monday clash.
According to the FIR, a police team was performing law and order duty at Fountain Chowk, Katra, in view of the ongoing protests against the installation of the ropeway at Tarakote in Katra by the Shrine Board.
During the demonstration, the protestors wrongfully blocked the road, obstructing vehicular movement and causing hindrance to the free passage of yatris, it said.
Following this, Bhupinder Singh Jamwal alias Pinku Miya, Sohan Chand and Maqbool among others were booked for provocation and instigating violence.
They assaulted the on-duty police party unexpectedly with fists and blows and also attempted to harm the policemen using bricks, stones, and weapons, the police alleged in their FIR.
They also tore the uniforms of police officers and officials. Station house officer (SHO) Katra and other on-duty officials sustained injuries in the Monday clash and were shifted to community health centre Katra for medical treatment, it said.
The protestors and attackers also damaged some vehicles at Fountain Chowk on the abetment of the “protest leaders”, the FIR read.
They also pelted stones and bricks at the general public and yatris, thus endangering their lives, it said.
The strike was called off after the district administration assured the protestors of holding talks with different stakeholders, including Shrine Board officials, to address their concerns.
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said the genuine concerns of the people protesting against the proposed ropeway project would be addressed.
Deputy Commissioner Reasi Vishesh Paul Mahajan and protest leader Bhupinder Singh jointly announced the strike's suspension.
"I have held talks with Bhupinder. We are aware of your demands and concerns. Bhupinder has given time till December 15 to hold talks with all stakeholders to resolve the issues," Mahajan said while addressing the protesters on Monday.
