More than 2,000 people in Libya are feared dead in severe flooding, according to a Libyan leader, as Storm Daniel swept through the eastern part of the country.
The head of Libya’s eastern parliament-backed government, Osama Hamad, announced the death toll on Monday, according to a report from state news organization Libyan News Agency.
“Osama Hamad said in press statements that residential neighborhoods disappeared after the torrents swept them into the sea along with thousands of their residents, and the situation is catastrophic and unprecedented in Libya,”.
It has not been independently verified the number of deaths, and Hamad did not give a source for the number of dead and missing.
Footage shared on social media shows submerged cars, collapsed buildings and torrents of water rushing through streets.
Hamad called on medical personnel and medical assistants to go to the badly affected city of Derna in eastern Libya to provide assistance immediately.
Phone lines were down in Derna and pictures shared by the Red Crescent showed severely flooded streets.
The Red Crescent in Benghazi said on Monday they estimate 150 to 250 people are dead in the city of Derna.
Hospitals in the eastern city of Bayda were evacuated after severe flooding from rainfall caused by a heavy storm, videos shared by the Medical Center of Bayda
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