(AP/PTI Photo)Cairo: Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating flooding and 10,000 were reported missing as rescuer teams struggled to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, officials said Tuesday. Referring to Friday’s devastating earthquake in Morocco, on the other side of North Africa, Ramadan said the situation in Libya was “as devastating as the situation in Morocco”. Ossama Hamad, prime minister of the government in eastern Libya, said that many of the missing were believed to have been carried away after two upstream dams burst. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in the city of Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

Cairo: Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating flooding and 10,000 were reported missing as rescue teams struggled to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, officials said. Mediterranean storm Daniel on Sunday night caused havoc and flash flooding in many towns in eastern Libya but the worst destruction was in Derna, where heavy rainfall and floods broke dams and washed away entire neighbourhoods, authorities said. “The situation is catastrophic,” said Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister in Libya’s eastern government. “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts [of the city]. And there are areas we have yet to reach.”Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2000 people may have perished in Derna alone.

Authorities in eastern Libya said at least 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain. Osama Hamad, the head of a parallel eastern-based administration, told local television that more than 2,000 were dead and thousands more missing. "The missing are in the thousands, and the dead exceed 2,000," Osama Hamad told al-Masar TV. However, Dbeibah's government works closely with the Central Bank of Libya, which disburses funds to government departments across the country. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani instructed the government to send aid to the affected area in eastern Libya, Qatar's state news agency reported.

The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money in South Korea without fear of U.S. sanctions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the move last week but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday, according to the notification, which was obtained by The Associated Press. The waiver means that European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks will not run afoul of U.S. sanctions in converting the frozen money in South Korea and transferring it to Qatar's central bank, where it will be held for Iran to use for the purchase of humanitarian goods.

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GENEVA (Reuters) - Around 10,000 people are thought to be missing following major floods in Libya, an official from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Tuesday. "We can confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far," Tamer Ramadan, the head of the IFRC delegation in Libya, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Tunisia. The IFRC could soon launch an appeal for emergency funding to support Libya's flood victims. "The challenges are ranging between access to basic health facilities for health services, shelter and shelter management, food and non-food items," Ramadan said. (Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Rachel More, Miranda Murray, Peter Graff)

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating flooding and 10,000 were reported missing as rescuers teams struggled to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, officials said Tuesday. Derna residents posted videos online showing major devastation. Entire residential blocks were erased along Wadi Derna, a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in the city of Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

More than 1,000 corpses were collected, including at least 700 that have been buried so far, the health minister for eastern Libya said. The destruction came to Derna and other parts of eastern Libya on Sunday night. Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist and meteorologist at Leipzig University, said in a statement that Daniel dumped 440 millimeters (15.7 inches) of rain on eastern Libya in a short time. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

Deadly floods swept through northeastern Libya over the weekend, with top officials in the region fearing the toll could exceed 2,000 dead as rescue teams searched for survivors. But around 6,000 are missing because of floods in the city, apparently caused by the collapse of dams above Derna, a spokesperson for the Libyan National Army that controls eastern Libya, said. Heavy rainfall over the weekend in the country’s northeast swelled waters past riverbanks and officials said the force of the floodwaters swept away hundreds of homes and washed away roads. “The situation is catastrophic,” the Derna City Council said. The United Arab Emirates also said that it would send urgent relief and rescue teams to Libya.

Videos from the city of Derna show entire residential areas were erased along a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. Tamer Ramadan, Libya envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said 10,000 people were missing after the unprecedented flooding. Entire residential blocks were erased along Wadi Derna, a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in the city of Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

A view of devastation after floods caused by Storm Daniel September 11, 2023, in Derna, Libya. Entire residential blocks were erased along Wadi Derna, a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Bayda, where about 50 people were reported dead. Hundreds of families were displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in Benghazi and other towns in eastern Libya. It is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter, who is allied with the east Libya government.

Authorities in eastern Libya said at least 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain. A damaged van is seen on a road as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Shahhat city, Libya, September 11, 2023. Osama Hamad, the head of a parallel eastern-based administration, told local television that more than 2,000 were dead and thousands more missing. A fallen tree branch is pictured as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall flooded hit Shahhat city, Libya, September 11, 2023. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani instructed the government to send aid to the affected area in eastern Libya, Qatar's state news agency reported.

More than 2,000 people are feared dead amid devastating flooding caused by Storm Daniel, which blasted across the Libyan city of Derna, CNN reported. The storm made landfall in eastern Libya on Sunday, triggering flooding and destroying facilities along its path. Here are some videos:After devastating Greece in the country's worst ever flood disaster, #medicane Daniel submerges East Libya under water. #ClimateCrisis#ClimateActionNowpic.twitter.com/HTxgiTQbaz — George Tsakraklides (@99blackbaloons) September 11, 2023Everyone in this part of the city of #Darna in eastern #Libya was taken by surprise as a #tsunami -like rushed down the valley. Last week, the storm caused devastating flooding in Greece before moving into the Mediterranean and transforming into a tropical-like cyclone known as a medicane.

Two dams collapsed in Libya after extreme floods, reportedly killing as many as 2,000 people in the north African country. The coastal city of Derna was hit the hardest, with entire colonies being swept away. The Libyan National Army spokesperson said the water had swept “whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea.” Over 5,000 people are currently missing. The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday, according to health authorities. Libya remains divided between two rival administrations, one in the east and one in the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.

Speaking to a local TV channel on Monday, Osama Hammad, the eastern-based Prime Minister of Libya, confirmed the toll in “catastrophic” floods that hit eastern Libya on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency. Hammad said most of the casualties were reported in the port city of Derna, where “the entire neighborhoods were swept away”. He called on medical personnel and rescue teams nationwide to provide assistance to the city, while the eastern-based Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Gatrani has appealed for international aid . The storm made landfall in eastern Libya on Sunday, triggering flooding and destroying facilities along its path. President of the Libyan Presidency Council, Mohamed Menfi, also called for international assistance to cope with the aftermath of the deadly floods.