 that controls eastern Libya, said in a televised news conference that the disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, 'sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea'. On Monday, the head of the Red Crescent aid group in the region had Derna's death toll was at 150 and expected to hit 250. Mismari put the number of missing at 5,000-6,000. The figures remain an estimate as they could not be confirmed yet, Reuters reports. 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. In Tripoli, the three-person Presidential Council which functions as head of state in the divided country asked the international community to help. "We call on brotherly and friendly countries and international organisations to provide assistance," it said. Osama Hamad, the head of a parallel eastern-based administration, told local television that more than 2,000 were dead and thousands more missing. After pummelling Greece last week, Storm Daniel swept in over the Mediterranean on Sunday, swamping roads and destroying buildings in Derna, and hitting other settlements along the coast, including Libya's second biggest city of Benghazi. Videos of Derna showed a wide torrent running through the city centre where a far narrower waterway had previously flowed. Ruined buildings stood o){kind=link}
AT LEAST 2,000 people are reported dead and thousands more are missing after a catastrophic flood ripped through Libya.
A major dam collapse sent a 10ft deep torrent raging through the eastern city of Derna, where “entire neighbourhoods” were swept out to sea.
It was the second major disaster to strike North Africa in three days following the devastating earthquake in Morocco.
Ahmed Mismari, the spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA) that controls eastern Libya, put the number of missing at 5,000 to 6,000
He said in a televised news conference that the disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, “sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea”.