People whose homes were swept away by floods in the eastern Libyan city of Derna a week ago faced the dilemma on Sunday of staying despite a lack of fresh water or fleeing through areas where landmines They have been displaced by the torrents.
Thousands of people are feared dead after two dams on Derna burst on September 10, toppling residential blocks lining a usually dry riverbed while people slept. According to the United Nations, many bodies were swept into the sea and more than 1,000 have already been buried in mass graves.
Dawn on Sunday revealed a scene of quiet devastation, with piles of debris removed from the sides of empty roads along with tangled metal, including pieces of smashed cars.
Hamad Awad was sitting on a blanket on an empty street with a bottle of water and bedding next to him.
โI stay in our area trying to clean it up and trying to check who is missing,โ he said. โThank God for giving us patience.โ
Entire districts of Derna, with an estimated population of at least 120,000, were razed or buried under mud. State media said on Sunday that at least 891 buildings had been destroyed in the city, whose mayor has said 20,000 people may have been killed.
Another resident said people didn't know what to do next.
โWe still don't know anything, we hear rumors, some try to reassure us, others say that we have to leave the city or stay here. We have no water or resources,โ said the resident, who only gave one name, Wasfi.
A report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Libyan authorities had detected at least 55 children poisoned by drinking contaminated water in Derna, where homeless people were surviving in makeshift shelters, schools or in overcrowded houses. from family or friends.
The floods had displaced landmines and other munitions left over from years of conflict, posing additional risk to thousands of displaced people on the move, he said.
Aid organizations have flown emergency aid and some countries have sent supplies, although international aid officials say much more help is needed.
"People came with help from everywhere, and this made things easier for us, and we feel that we are not alone," said Derna resident Hassan Awad, as Algerian civil protection workers searched through the rubble of buildings in several apartments in the city. survivors.
Awad pointed to a rusty pole lying between two buildings and said that by clinging to it, his family had survived the flood that swept away their house, covering everything in mud.
In Al Badya, a coastal settlement west of Derna, the hospital treated victims from Derna in addition to its own. Doctors built makeshift dams in the street when the flooding occurred to try to contain the water, but it rose inside the building.
"This affected the machinery and infrastructure of the lower level of the hospital," said hospital director Abdel Rahim Mazek.
