9/17/2023–|Last updated: 9/17/202311:50 AM (Mecca time)
In the city of Derna, eastern Libya, search and rescue operations continue for survivors despite dwindling hopes, and operations to recover bodies continue amid warnings of the spread of epidemics and diseases in the city.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent monitored some of the recovery of the bodies of the victims and the effects of destruction left by the floods. Al Jazeera’s camera recorded the recovery operations of the bodies in the Libyan city of Derna, where the flood was not kind to its residents. It also monitored the moments of extracting the bodies of the victims from the sea, while ambulances worked to transport the bodies.
Khaled was one of the survivors of the hurricane, and he said at the moment of the disaster that the flood struck the city suddenly and he lost his young daughter.
Al Jazeera’s camera stopped at some houses that were completely flooded and had become completely destroyed, and according to the neighbors’ statements, the house – in which the camera shows the extent of the destruction that befell – a family consisting of more than 10 individuals lived in it, and their fate is not yet known, and although the… Divers tried to search for the bodies but have not found any of them yet.
It is noteworthy that the homes closest to the sea were the most damaged, while the homes of hundreds of families turned into their graves in light of the low hopes of reaching the survivors, making Derna a disaster-stricken city whose victims were waiting for someone to rescue them or bury them properly.
Residents and relief teams also face great difficulty in dealing with thousands of bodies that were returned to land by the waves or that began to decompose under the rubble, after floods destroyed buildings and threw many into the sea.
It is noteworthy that a strong storm struck – last Sunday – eastern Libya, and heavy rains in huge quantities caused the collapse of two dams in Derna, causing water to flow strongly in the course of a valley that is usually dry.
The water swept away parts of the city, including its buildings and infrastructure, and the water flowed several meters high, destroying the bridges linking the east and west of the city.
