Journalists and aid groups objected Tuesday to official demands that they stay back, amid a sense of confusion over what degree of access would be permitted.
Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Some 11,300 people died when two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel last week sending a wall of water gushing through the city, according to the Red Crescent aid group. A further 10,000 people are missing, and presumed dead.
A U.N. team “was due to travel from Benghazi to Derna today but were not authorized to proceed,” Najwa Mekki, a spokesperson for OCHA, a U.N. humanitarian office, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “Unimpeded, sustained access is essential for humanitarians to do their life-saving work.” She said that rescue, emergency medical and other U.N. teams on the ground continued to operate.
Abu Chkiouat said in an appearance on local Libyan channel al-Ahrar that some media personnel had been asked to clear away from search-and-rescue attempts, but only to allow rescue teams to carry out their jobs. Construction workers build a bridge linking the Eastern and Western parts of Derna, which was divided by a dam collapse following recent flooding caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel, in Derna, Libya, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023.
While Derna does face cholera concerns amid water contamination and a breakdown in services, experts have warned, the National Center for Disease Control, based in western Libya’s Tripoli, said that the need for a full evacuation remains unfounded. The World Health Organization said that despite common conception, corpses do not heighten the risk of epidemic diseases following natural disasters such as a flood.
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