The death toll from torrents and floods that swept through the Libyan city of Derna due to Hurricane Daniel, which struck the country last Sunday, has risen to more than 5,300 people, according to the latest statistics issued by the Libyan Ministry of Interior.
On Wednesday September 13, 2023, the Libyan News Agency quoted the ministry’s media official, Muhammad Abu Lamoucha, as saying the number of deaths in Derna as a result of the devastating hurricane exceeded 5,300 people, and there are thousands missing as a result of the disaster.
He stressed the continuation of the search for missing persons and the rescue of those stranded and affected by local rescue teams, calling for international intervention to assist in rescue efforts and protect those affected by the unprecedented floods.
Earlier yesterday, Tuesday, the official at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Tariq Ramadan, said: “We do not have final figures” for the number of deaths currently, but he explained that “the death toll is huge and may reach thousands, and that the number of missing people has reached about ten thousand people.”
Last Sunday, a Mediterranean hurricane called “Daniel” struck eastern Libya, especially the coastal town of Jabal Akhdar, in addition to Benghazi, where a curfew was declared and schools were closed for days.
In a statement, the Presidential Council of Libya declared Derna, Shahat, and Al-Bayda in Cyrenaica in the east as disaster areas, due to the floods that swept them.
