‘Bodies lying everywhere’: Thousands feared dead after powerful storm hits eastern Libya

This handout picture provided by the office of Libya's Benghazi-based interim prime minister on September 11, 2023 shows a view of a trailer truck crashed into a tree in the eastern city of Benghazi in the wake of the Mediterranean storm "Daniel". (AFP)
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Updated 12 September 2023
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‘Bodies lying everywhere’: Thousands feared dead after powerful storm hits eastern Libya

  • Around quarter of Libya's eastern city of Derna wiped out by floods
  • Deaths had exceeded 2,000 and thousands were missing in the city

CAIRO: At least 2,300 people were killed in Libya and thousands more were reported missing after a powerful Mediterranean storm triggered devastating flooding in the city of Derna. 

Ossama Hamad, prime minister of the east Libya government, said earlier that deaths had exceeded 2,000 and thousands were missing in the city, as many were believed to have been carried away after two upstream dams burst.

Libyan emergency services on the ground reported an initial death toll of more than 2,300 in Derna alone and said more than 5,000 people remained missing while about 7,000 were injured.

“The situation in Derna is shocking and very dramatic,” said Osama Ali of the Tripoli-based Rescue and Emergency Service. “We need more support to save lives because there are people still under the rubble and every minute counts.”

Libyan Minister of Civil Aviation and Emergency Committee member Hichem Chkiouat was quoted by Reuters saying he expected the final toll would be "really, really big”.

“I returned from Derna. It is very disastrous. Bodies are lying everywhere - in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings,” Chkiouat.

“I am not exaggerating when I say that 25% of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed.”




This picture released by the Libyan Red Crescent on September 11, 2023, shows members of their team working on opening roads engulfed in floods at an undefined location in eastern Libya. (AFP)

DEATH TOLL TO 'REACH THOUSANDS'

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) also said that the number of victims could reach thousands. Three Red Crescent volunteers have died while helping Libya flood victims, the IFRC said. 

Tamer Ramadan of IFRC said: “Our teams on the ground are still doing their assessment (but) from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge,” he told reporters in Geneva via video link from Tunis.
“It might reach to the thousands,” he said in English. “We don't have a definite number right now.”

Some Libyan media outlets quoted east Libya's health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, saying that he expected the number of victims to shockingly rise to 10,000, and those missing to reach about 100,000. 




This handout picture provided by the office of Libya's Benghazi-based interim prime minister on September 11, 2023 shows a view of vehicles piled up along the side of a coastal road in the eastern city of Derna. (AFP)

Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused devastating floods in many towns in eastern Libya. But the worst destruction was in Derna, where heavy rainfall and floods broke dams and washed away entire neighborhoods, authorities said.

A Reuters journalist on the way to Derna, a coastal city of around 125,000 inhabitants, saw vehicles overturned on the edges of roads, trees knocked down, and abandoned, flooded houses. Convoys of aid and assistance were heading towards the city.

Videos showed a wide torrent running through the city centre where a far narrower waterway had previously flowed. Ruined buildings stood on either side.

Another video shared on Facebook, which Reuters could not independently verify, appeared to show dozens of bodies covered in blankets on the pavements.

AID COMING IN

Libya is politically divided between east and west and public services have crumbled since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that prompted years of conflict.

The internationally recognised government in Tripoli does not control eastern areas but has dispatched aid to Derna, with at least one relief flight leaving from the western city of Misrata on Tuesday, a Reuters journalist on the plane said.

The emergency medical supply plane is carrying 14 tons of supplies, medications, equipment, body bags and 87 medical and paramedical personnel, headed to Benghazi, the head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said on X.

US special envoy to Libya Richard Norton said on X that Washington would send aid, “coordinating with UN partners and Libyan authorities to assess how best to target official US assistance”.

Egypt, Qatar, Iran and Germany were among the countries that also said they were ready to send aid.

“The news about the severe flooding in Libya is dismaying. Many dead and injured are expected, especially in the east,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted on X.

(with Reuters and AFP)


Libya’s eastern-based parliament passed budget for its development fund

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Libya’s eastern-based parliament passed budget for its development fund

BENGHAZI: Libya’s eastern-based parliament voted on Tuesday to approve a budget for its development and reconstruction fund, a parliament spokesperson and member said, although it is unclear if the money will be forthcoming given the country’s divisions.
The budget of 69 billion Libyan dinar ($12.71 billion) will be spread equally over three years, lawmaker Tarek Jroushi told Reuters, adding that the funds will be overseen by the parliament.
Parliament spokesperson Abdullah Blheg earlier announced the approval of the budget in a post on X, without disclosing the budget amount.
The fund, established in February last year by the eastern-based House of Representatives, has independent financial status, according to the parliament gazette.
However it is unclear if the governor of the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya, Naji Issa, will hand over the money for the fund. The central bank, based in Tripoli, is the only internationally recognized depository for Libyan oil revenues, the country’s vital economic income.
The eastern development fund is headed by Belgasem Haftar, a son of military commander Khalifa Haftar.
The Benghazi-based government of Osama Hamad is allied to Haftar, who controls the east and large parts of the southern region of Libya.
The north African country’s separate Tripoli-based Government of National Unity is headed by interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, who was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021.

Bahrain elected to Arab seat at UN Security Council for 2026-2027, succeeding Algeria

Updated 33 min 19 sec ago
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Bahrain elected to Arab seat at UN Security Council for 2026-2027, succeeding Algeria

  • Bahrain FM Alzayani calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages and detainees, inflow of humanitarian aid to enclave

NEW YORK CITY: The UN General Assembly on Tuesday elected Bahrain to the 15-member UN Security Council for two-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2026.

The Gulf country was joined for the same stint by Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia.

The Security Council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions such as imposing sanctions and authorizing use of force. It has five permanent veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The remaining 10 members are elected, with five new members joining every year. Bahrain, Colombia, the DRC, Latvia, and Liberia — who were all elected in uncontested slates — will replace Algeria, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Guyana and Slovenia.

To ensure geographical representation, seats are allocated to regional groups. But even if candidates are running unopposed in their group, they still need to win the support of more than two-thirds of the General Assembly.

Bahrain received 186 votes, DRC 183 votes, Liberia 181 votes, Colombia 180 votes and Latvia 178 votes.

The General Assembly on Monday elected former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock as president of the 193-member body for its 80th session, which begins in September.


UAE’s foreign minister, Australian counterpart reaffirm friendship

Updated 47 min 49 sec ago
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UAE’s foreign minister, Australian counterpart reaffirm friendship

  • Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Penny Wong review issues 50 years on from establishing diplomatic relations

LONDON: Foreign ministers of the UAE and Australia have reaffirmed the friendship of their countries, some 50 years on from establishing diplomatic relations.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Penny Wong stressed in a phone call their mutual commitment to strengthening areas of cooperation in support of both countries’ development goals, the Emirates News Agency reported.

The parties also reviewed regional and international issues of mutual interest and expressed their commitment to continue cooperating to achieve growth.

Abu Dhabi and Canberra are celebrating 50 years since establishing diplomatic relations in March 1975.


Jordan condemns Israeli settler incursion into Al-Aqsa, reaffirms responsibility for mosque

Updated 03 June 2025
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Jordan condemns Israeli settler incursion into Al-Aqsa, reaffirms responsibility for mosque

  • Hundreds of Israeli settlers entered Al-Aqsa compound in the Old City, which is part of occupied East Jerusalem
  • Jordanian Foreign Ministry said settler incursion would not be possible without protection, facilitation of Israeli police

LONDON: The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Israeli settlers, describing the action as provocative.

On Monday and Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli settlers entered the compound in the Old City, which is part of occupied East Jerusalem. The ministry described the setters’ behavior as “inflammatory acts that aim to impose new temporal and spatial divisions at the mosque.”

Settlers regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said that the settlers’ incursion “would not be possible without the protection and facilitation of the Israeli police,” demanding that the Israeli authorities “halt their irresponsible and dangerous practices.”

On Tuesday, some settlers performed Talmudic rituals in Al-Aqsa compound known as “epic prostration,” in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence, the Petra news agency reported.

Qudah emphasized that the 144-dunam area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims. He highlighted that the Jerusalem Endowments Council, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, is the only legal authority responsible for managing and regulating Al-Aqsa’s affairs, Petra added.


Palestinian appeals for blood donations unanswered in Gaza due to widespread hunger, malnutrition

Updated 03 June 2025
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Palestinian appeals for blood donations unanswered in Gaza due to widespread hunger, malnutrition

  • Nearly 2 million Palestinians face imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid
  • Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment

LONDON: Palestinian medics are facing challenging conditions while treating patients and the injured in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli attacks in the coastal enclave.

Health and medical staff have reported to the Wafa news agency that their appeals for community blood donations have gone largely unanswered due to widespread hunger and malnutrition, while life-saving resources are rapidly depleting in many hospitals.

Nearly 2 million Palestinians face an imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid since it resumed its military actions in March.

Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment, hindering doctors from carrying out emergency procedures necessary to save lives, Wafa added.

Operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency departments are struggling under the pressure of a growing number of critically injured patients, and fuel is running out to generate power.

On Monday, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza revealed that 41 percent of kidney failure patients have died since October 2023 amid ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid.

Israeli forces destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza over the weekend, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis to 160 patients.