The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding did not include Derna, which was inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters after two dams burst.
In this photo provided by the Libyan government, a car sits partly suspended in trees after being carried by floodwaters in Derna, Libya, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023.
The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday, according to health authorities. But the tally did not include Derna, which had become inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters after two upstream dams burst.Video by residents of the city posted online showed major devastation. Entire residential areas were erased along a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center.
Since a 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi, Libya has lacked a central government and the resulting lawlessness has meant dwindling investment in the country's roads and public services and also minimal regulation of private building. The country is now split between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias.
"The situation is tragic," he declared in a telephone interview on the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. He urged urged local and international agencies to rush to help the city. In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Libya said it was in contact with both the U.N. and Libyan authorities and was determining how to deliver aid to the most affected areas.