2000 People Killed After Deadly Storm, Heavy Floods Hit Libya

A deadly storm and heavy floods in the eastern Libya has led to the death of over 2000 people while thousands of persons went missing.

A deadly storm named 'Daniel' hit the Mediterranean on Sunday, causing huge destruction of buildings and washing out the roads in Derna. Another major city 'Benghazi' was also highly affected by the deadly storm that hit along the coast of Libya.

The head of the government of eastern Libya Osama Hamad claimed that more than 2000 people have lost their lives due to the deadly storm while several others were missing in the heavy floods.

"The missing are in the thousands, and the dead exceed 2,000. Entire neighbourhoods in Derna have disappeared, along with their residents, swept away by water," Osama Hamad told al-Masar TV.

Hamad heads a government that is not internationally recognised, and which operates in eastern areas of Libya that are controlled by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Meanwhile, spokesman of the government Ahmad Mismari further said that thousands of persons including seven members of Libya National Army (LNA) were missing due to the deadly storm and heavy floods.

The death toll resulting from the storm 'Daniel' was expected to be 250, however, the disaster led to the death toll exceed 2000.

According to a local resident of Derna, he had managed to escape the storm with his family, though houses in a valley near the city had collapsed.

"People were asleep and woke up and found their homes surrounded by water," he was quoted saying to Reuters.

Another resident Ahmed Mohamed said, "We were asleep, and when we woke up, we found water besieging the house. We are inside and trying to get out.

Reportedly, the water level had reached three metres (10 feet) in Derna followed by the heavy floods caused by the storm.

Libya's eastern-based parliament declared three days of mourning. Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, prime minister of the interim government in Tripoli, also declared three days of mourning in all the affected cities, calling them "disaster areas".

Search-and-rescue operations of the missing persons is underway. a state of extreme emergency has been declared by the authorities. Schools and stores have been closed after a curfew has been imposed in the area.

The United Nations in Libya said it was following the storm closely and would provide urgent relief assistance in support of response efforts at local and national levels