North Africa
Concern about drinking water in Libya’s disaster area
Rescue teams are looking for victims in Darna. “You can smell dead people on every corner,” said Osama Aly, spokesman for the Libyan Civil Protection Authority. photo
© Yousef Murad/AP/dpa
Days later, the emergency services were still searching for bodies under the rubble. Thousands are still missing. Helpers are trying to find drinking water. Meanwhile, two more dams could become a problem.
An Egyptian aircraft carrier designed to function as a floating hospital also docked, Egypt’s state information service announced. But according to aid workers, residents and international observers, this is still far from enough.
“So much has been destroyed,” Claudia Gazzini, a Libya analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the Wall Street Journal. She got an idea of the situation in the heavily damaged port city of Darna, the epicenter of the disaster. “The rescue efforts are small compared to the damage,” Gazzini was quoted as saying.
The distribution of food, medicine, tarpaulins and other things remains difficult. According to Doctors Without Borders, helpers are urging that aid operations be better coordinated.
Emergency workers die during rescue operations
The rescue work was overshadowed yesterday by a serious accident: According to the authorities in eastern Libya, at least four Greek emergency workers and three members of a Libyan family were killed. 19 Greek rescuers were on their way to Darna when their minibus collided with the car of a family of five. 15 people were injured, some seriously.
The fact that Libya is actually divided into two parts does not make rescue operations any easier. The civil war country has a government in the West that is internationally recognized. In the east, where Storm Daniel caused particularly great damage, a different government that is not internationally recognized is in power. Meanwhile, the recovery teams in Darna in the east of the country continue to search for bodies decomposing under the chaos of rubble.
“You can smell dead people on every corner,” Osama Aly, spokesman for the Libyan Civil Protection Authority based in Tripoli in the west, told the Wall Street Journal. Added to this is the smell of untreated sewage. The lack of clean drinking water in particular is fueling concerns that diseases such as cholera could spread.
Two dams are a concern
Meanwhile, two more dams may be in danger after the devastating storm and dam collapse disaster. The UN emergency agency OCHA expressed concern yesterday evening about the Jaza Dam between the partially destroyed city of Darna and Benghazi and the Kattara Dam near Benghazi. Reports about the situation are contradictory. Authorities said both dams were in good condition and functioning. According to the authorities, pumps will be installed at the Jasa Dam to relieve the pressure on the dam.
Thousands of people died in the terrible catastrophe and thousands are still missing. The local authorities do not yet have exact figures on how many people fell victim to the severe flooding. The government in the east put the number of officially registered deaths at 3,283 as of yesterday evening. The government there emphasized again that official casualty figures would only be published by them.