‘Smell of death is everywhere’: corpses pile up in flood-hit Libyan city
Retrieving the dead in devastated Derna as big a challenge as finding the living | The corpses are everywhere. Buried under mud-filled husks of ruined homes. Wedged among smashed bridges and roadways. Drifting by the dozens – perhaps hundreds, even thousands – in the detritus-filled sea. In the days after a powerful storm lashed Libya’s coastline and floodwaters from two burst dams swept part of the city of Derna into the sea, authorities have understandably focused on the living, racing to find and evacuate survivors. But they also must contend with the dead, to collect and bury the growing number of victims before their bodies turn Derna into a massive contamination site. Estimates of the death toll have varied widely, and large numbers of Derna residents have lost their homes and belongings. ● The catastrophe was triggered by Mediterranean Storm Daniel, which over the weekend dumped more than 40cm (16 inches) of rain within 24 hours on Libya’s northeast coast – a region that normally receives about 15mm over the entire month of September.
■ Libyan flood survivor recounts horror in Derna after dams burst (09/14/23)
■ Fears mount of surging death toll in Libya flood disaster (The Straits Times)
■ 10,000 missing in Libya storm floods, death toll 'huge': Red Cross (09/12/23)