At least 2,000 dead, thousands missing as ‘catastrophic’ flooding hits Libya

Around 2,000 people have died and thousands more are missing after Storm Daniel dumped so much rain on Libya’s northeast that two dams collapsed sending water flowing into already inundated areas.

Othman Abduljalil, health minister in Libya’s eastern parliament-backed government, toured the worst-hit city of Derna on Monday, describing parts of it as a “ghost town.”

“The situation [in Derna] was catastrophic… The bodies are still lying in many places,” Abduljalil told Libya’s Almasar TV.

“There are families still stuck inside their homes and there are victims under the rubble… I expect people have been washed away into the sea, and tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, we’ll find many of them,” he said.