Officials warned on Monday that a disease epidemic in Libya’s northeast, where floods have killed thousands, might spark “a second devastating crisis” as hundreds became ill after drinking contaminated water.
The UN Support Mission in Libya said in a statement that it was especially concerned about water contamination and a lack of sanitation after two dams broke during Mediterranean storm Daniel, bringing a wall of water spilling through the eastern city of Derna on Sept. 11. The death toll has ranged from 4,000 to 11,000 people, according to government officials and aid organizations.
According to the mission, nine UN agencies reacting to the tragedy are attempting to prevent infections from spreading and causing another crisis in the devastated country, which is receiving 28 tons (25 metric tonnes) of medical supplies from the World Health Organization.
In broadcast remarks Saturday, Haider al-Saeih, head of Libya’s Center for Combating Diseases, stated that at least 150 individuals in Derna had diarrhoea after drinking polluted water. There have been no more updates provided.
At least 55 children have become ill after drinking dirty water in Derna, according to the National Center for Disease Control.
The calamity has given uncommon unity to the oil-rich country of Libya, which has been divided between opposing administrations since 2014. Both are backed by international donors and armed militias, whose influence in the country has grown since the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion that overthrew despotic ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
Both governments have sent humanitarian teams to the port city and other impacted areas, but poor coordination, problems transporting aid to the most severely damaged areas, and the loss of Derna’s infrastructure, including numerous bridges, have impeded their efforts.
Divers search for flash flood casualties in Derna, Libya, on Monday, September 18, 2023. Yousef Murad/AP Photo
Protesters gathered outside the al-Shabana mosque in central Derna on Monday to express their displeasure with the government.
Hundreds of Libyan men gathered outside and on top of the mosque as a man recited a list of requests at the mosque’s gate. The guy urged authorities to speed their inquiry into the accident, the UN to establish an office in Derna, immediate rehabilitation of the city, and compensation for flood victims. After he finished, the crowd began shouting, “Libya, Libya, Libya.”
According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 40,000 individuals have been relocated across northeast Libya, including 30,000 in Derna. Residents in neighbouring Benghazi and Tobruk have offered to house the displaced, as volunteers seek for survivors buried beneath the wreckage.
When the flood hit, Mraje Kdour and his three brothers made it to the second level, but his sister did not.
“We were so close to hitting the ceiling. “We could hardly breathe,” Kdour told The Associated Press.
Libya’s general prosecutor, al-Sediq al-Sour, launched an investigation on Saturday into the collapse of the two dams, which were erected in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funding. Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, the mayor of Derna, has been suspended pending an investigation into the incident.
Othman Abduljaleel, the Health Minister of Libya’s eastern government, claimed on Sunday that his ministry has initiated a vaccination program “against diseases that usually occur after disasters such as this one,” but did not explain.
According to the Red Crescent, at least 11,300 people have been killed and an additional 10,000 are missing in Libya. After previously claiming the same death toll, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is now citing much lower figures, with approximately 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing.
Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister for East Libya, claimed at least 3,283 bodies had been buried as of Sunday night. He did not provide an accurate figure for the number of bodies recovered thus far. Previously, on Thursday, he stated that over 3,000 dead had been buried “while another 2,000 were still being processed.”
Derna’s mayor said last week that the death toll could approach 20,000.
Meanwhile, the floods have sparked fears about the remains of Ceyrene, an old Greco-Roman city about 37 miles (60 kilometers) east of Derna and one of five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Libya.
“UNESCO is in contact with archaeologists on the ground, and its satellite imaging team is also attempting to determine what the damage may be,” the agency said in a statement given to the Associated Press on Monday.
