Death toll in Libya floods nearly 3,000 after Storm Daniel

Up to 3,000 people have died and 10,000 are missing in the massive floods that have overwhelmed parts of eastern Libya.

Libya’s Red Crescent spokesman Taqfiq Shukri said on Tuesday that there are 2,084 people confirmed dead, while IFRC head Tamer Ramadan said: “The number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far”.

Some 20,000 people have been displaced, according to estimates. Libya’s eastern administration, based in Benghazi, estimates that 3,000 people are dead.

In the capital Tripoli, Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah announced on Tuesday that an aid plane carrying 14 tonnes of supplies and medical personnel is headed to Benghazi to help, although there are still difficulties entering the hardest-hit city of Derna.

Relief convoys are moving from west to east in divided Libya as the internationally recognised Tripoli government has declared the eastern region a disaster zone and announced it would be sending help.

The Benghazi administration says more than 1,000 bodies have been retrieved in the Mediterranean city of Derna.