Libya Storm Claims 2,000 Lives, With Thousands More Missing
- Red Cross says over 10,000 people missing after massive floods
- Rescue efforts hit by high water levels, tumultuous politics
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A frenetic search for survivors — or bodies — ensued in eastern Libya on Tuesday after a Mediterranean storm lashed the OPEC member’s shores, with dams collapsing and triggering floods that killed at least 2,300, almost all in one city. The International Red Cross said at least 10,000 more were missing.
The health minister of the divided North African nation’s eastern-based government, Othman Abdel-Jaleel, said 700 people from Derna had so far been identified and buried, and more than 6,000 remained unaccounted for, according to al-Masar TV. Separately, the western-based government in Tripoli said the overall toll in Derna stood at 1,900.