BENGHAZI: The aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday said it was sending an emergency team to Libya following the devastating storm that killed thousands.
“An emergency team composed of logisticians and medical workers is being deployed to Derna, and will arrive in the city by tomorrow to assess the medical needs,” the organisation said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The team was set to “assess the medical needs and donate emergency kits to care for the wounded, and body bags to the Libyan Red Crescent,” MSF added.
The eastern city of Derna is the worst affected by the floods that followed a heavy storm in the war-torn country.
The flooding has left more than 30,000 people homeless, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), particularly in Derna. Thousands more have lost their homes in cities in the east of the country.
Rescue workers continued to search for the dead. Some 10,000 people are considered missing, but hopes are fading of finding them alive.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the east-based Interior Ministry told German news agency (dpa) that the death toll from the devastating floods had reached 5,200. This figure could not be independently verified.
Two rival governments are vying for power in Libya, which has been plagued by unrest in recent years. One is based in the east and the other in Tripoli, in the west. So far, diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the ongoing civil war have failed.
Libya has been in chaos since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Countless militias are still fighting for power and influence in the oil-rich country. The conflict is further fuelled by foreign states. – BERNAMA-dpa
