Death toll in Storm Daniel-hit Libyan city ‘could climb to 20,000’, mayor says as King Charles reveals how he and the Queen are ‘desperately saddened’ over ‘horrific’ flooding

• Storm Daniel hit coastal city of Derna and other eastern parts Libya on Sunday
• The death toll has so far reached at least 5,100 in Derna alone

King Charles has said he and the Queen are ‘desperately saddened’ after thousands of people died following ‘horrific’ flooding in Libya.

Storm Daniel hit the coastal city of Derna and other eastern parts of the North African country on Sunday, leading to floods, with the death toll so far reaching at least 5,100 in Derna alone.

Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi told Al Arabiya television the estimated the number of deaths in the city could range from 18,000 to 20,000, based on the number of wiped-out districts. 

King Charles reaffirmed the UK’s support for the country in a message sent to the head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Dr Mohamed Menfi, on Wednesday evening.

It read: ‘Your Excellency, my wife and I are so desperately saddened by the devastating impact and loss of life caused by Storm Daniel and the subsequent floods.

General view of Derna city, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Libya, on September 13, 2023

King Charles reaffirmed the UK’s support for the country in a message sent to the head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Dr Mohamed Menfi, on Wednesday evening (File Photo)

‘We mourn with all those who have lost their loved ones, and continue to pray for everyone whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the horrific floods.

‘I admire greatly all those who are engaged tirelessly in the rescue efforts in such dire conditions, and praise their selfless bravery.

‘I know that my Government stands ready to support your needs. Charles R.’

His message comes after the UK Government announced support ‘worth up to £1 million’.

The Foreign Office said the funding was an ‘initial package’ to provide assistance for those most affected by the devastation.

On Wednesday, search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea to look for bodies Derna, where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people.

Members of the rescue teams from the Egyptian army carry a dead body as they walk in the mud between the destroyed buildings, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

People walk amidst the debris, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

A view shows a damaged car, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

This handout satellite picture released by Maxar Technologies on September 13, 2023 shows the port facility of Derna after floods, on September 13, 2023

The Mediterranean city of Derna has struggled to get help after Sunday night’s deluge washed away most access roads. Aid workers who managed to reach the city described devastation in its centre, with thousands still missing and tens of thousands left homeless.

‘Bodies are everywhere, inside houses, in the streets, at sea. Wherever you go, you find dead men, women, and children,’ Emad al-Falah, an aid worker from Benghazi, said over the phone from Derna. ‘Entire families were lost.’

Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding Sunday in many towns of eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. Two dams in the mountains above the city collapsed, sending floodwaters roaring down the Wadi Derna river and through the city centre, sweeping away entire city blocks.

As much as a quarter of the city has disappeared, emergency officials said.

Waves rose as high as 7 metres (23 feet), Yann Fridez, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Libya, told broadcaster France24.

Mohammed Derna, a teacher in the city, said he, his family and neighbours rushed to the roof of their apartment building, stunned at the volume of water rushing by. It reached the second story of many buildings, he said. 

They watched people below, including women and children being washed away.

‘They were screaming, ‘Help, help,” he said over the phone from a field hospital in Derna. 

‘It was like a Hollywood horror movie.’

Destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in the eastern city of Derna, about 290 kilometres east of Benghazi, in the wake of the Mediterranean storm Daniel on September 11, 2023

A view shows damaged cars, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

Head of Libya’s Presidential Council Mohamed Al-Menfi (File Photo)

Derna lies on a narrow coastal plain, under steep mountains. Only two roads from the south remain usable, and they involve a long, winding route through the mountains.

Collapsed bridges over the river split the city centre, further hampering movement.

Search teams went through shattered apartment buildings and retrieved the dead floating offshore in the Mediterranean Sea, al-Falah said.

Ossama Ali, a spokesman for an ambulance centre in eastern Libya, said at least 5,100 deaths were recorded in Derna, along with around 100 others elsewhere in eastern Libya. More than 7,000 people in the city were injured.

A spokesman for the eastern Libyan interior ministry put the death tally in Derna at more than 5,300, according to the state-run news agency.

The number of deaths was likely to increase since teams are still collecting bodies, Ali said.

At least 9,000 people are missing, but that number could drop as communications are restored.

At least 30,000 people in Derna were displaced by the flooding, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said.

Men walk past debris of buildings caused by flash floods in Derna, eastern Libya, on September 11, 2023

This handout satellite picture released by Maxar Technologies on September 13, 2023 shows Wadi Derna river and destroyed buildings in Derna after floods, on September 13, 2023

Hassan El Salheen, weeps after burying the repatriated body of his son, Aly, who died along with his three cousins in Libya after Storm Daniel hit the country, at Al Sharief village in Bani Swief province, Egypt, on September 13, 2023

The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the towns of Bayda, Susa and Marj. 

Rescuers retrieved at least 150 bodies Wednesday from the sea off Bayda, bringing the death tally in the town to about 200, Ali said.

The startling devastation pointed to the storm’s intensity, but also Libya’s vulnerability.

The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west, and the result has been neglect of infrastructure in many areas.

Ahmed Abdalla, a survivor who joined the search-and-rescue effort, said they were putting bodies in the yard of a hospital before taking them for burial in mass graves at Derna’s sole intact cemetery.

‘The situation is indescribable. Entire families dead in this disaster. Some were washed away to the sea,’ Abdalla said by phone.

Derna is 250 kilometres (150 miles) east of Benghazi, where international aid started to arrive on Tuesday.

Neighbouring Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as Turkey, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, sent rescue teams and aid. The U.K. and German governments sent assistance too, including blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, tents, water filters and generators.

US President Joe Biden also said the United States would send money to relief organizations and coordinate with Libyan authorities and the United Nations to provide additional support.

A helicopter flies over damaged buildings, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

Members of the rescue team from the Egyptian army inspect the damaged areas, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023

Authorities transferred hundreds of bodies to morgues in nearby towns. 

More than 300, including 84 Egyptians, were brought to the morgue in the city of Tobruk, 169 kilometres (105 miles) east of Derna, the local Medical Center reported.

The victims’ lists reflected how Libya, despite its turmoil, was always a magnet for workers from around the region because of its oil industry.

More than 70 of Derna’s dead hailed from a single southern Egyptian village, el-Sharif. On Wednesday morning, hundreds attended a mass funeral in the village for 64 people.

Rabei Hanafy said his extended family lost 16 men in the flooding, 12 of whom were buried Wednesday. Another funeral for four others was held in a town in the northern Nile Delta.

Among those killed in Libya was the family of Saleh Sariyeh, a Palestinian originally from the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon who had lived in Derna for decades.

The 62-year-old, his wife and two daughters were all killed when their home in Derna was washed away, his nephew Mohammed Sariyeh said. The four were buried in Derna. 

Due to ongoing gunbattles in Ein el-Hilweh, the family there could not hold a gathering to receive condolences from friends and neighbours, Mohammed said.

Derna, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli, is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter, who is allied with the eastern Libyan government. 

The rival government in western Libya, based in Tripoli, is allied with other armed groups.

Derna was once a hub for extremist groups in the years of chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

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