20,000 feared dead in Libya flood; destruction hampers counting efforts

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- About 20,000 people are believed dead as Libya's divided governments respond to the aftermath of devastating floods that ravaged the eastern part of the country after torrential rains hit the area.

A total of 5,300 people have been confirmed dead with 10,000 missing and more than 7,000 hurt, according to ambulance service spokesman Osama Ali. However, an exact number was difficult to track given the scale of the destruction brought on by rainfall from the Mediterranean storm Daniel.

"The situation is very large and surprising for the city of Derna," Mayor Abdel Moneim Al-Ghaithi said. "We were not able to confront it with our capabilities that preceded the storm and the torrent."

The World Health Organization confirmed it has recovered 3,460 bodies from the flooding.

"There are conflicts in the number ... of deaths, but what matters is that the deaths number in the thousands," Ahmed Zouiten, the Libya representative from the WHO said.

The storm on Sunday caused two dams to collapse, sending waves of water more than 20 feet high through the heart of the port city of Derna, which some officials said led to whole neighborhoods being washed away.

Libyan eastern-based government Prime Minister Osama Hammad said specialists were needed to recover the casualties with the growing fear of a large number of decaying bodies in the open.

"The area needs to be closed off completely, confined completely," Hammad told local media Thursday.

Local authorities have received 6,000 body bags from the International Committee of the Red Cross to help with the dignified handling of bodies. Yann Fridez, head of the Libyan delegation of the Red Cross, said confirming the deaths will be difficult since the flooding washed so many buildings and infrastructure into the sea.