Hopes of finding survivors in the Libyan city of Derna are slowly fading, six days after devastating floods hit the city, killing thousands.

Torrential rains on the night of Sunday into Monday caused two dams to break, resulting in huge volumes of water, the size of a tsunami, swallowing everything in their path.

The floods left behind a scene of destruction and despair in a large part of the city, on both sides of the stream that runs through it. Derna looks as if it has been hit by a major earthquake, an AFP photographer found.

Entire buildings were swept away by the waters. Others were destroyed, while many cars can be seen smashed against walls.

Before the disaster, the city had 100,000 inhabitants. Of these, “at least 10,000” people are missing, according to the UN, while the exact death toll remains at this stage unknown.

Officials of the government of Cyrenaica, in eastern Libya, speak of at least 3,000 dead, but many fear that the actual death toll will be much higher.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) speaks of over 38,000 displaced people in the eastern part of the divided country, 30,000 in Derna alone.

“chaotic situation”

Manoel Carton, medical coordinator of a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team that was deployed in the area three days ago, spoke of a “chaotic” situation, which prevents proper registration and identification of victims.

“There are many volunteers from all over Libya and abroad. Aid coordination is urgent,” he insisted.

“Most of the victims are buried (…) both in cemeteries and in mass graves”, however “many” have not been identified, above all those washed “in large numbers from the sea”, he noted. Those who find them “bury them directly”.

The work of search and rescue teams is hampered by political chaos in the north African state.

After the uprising, the overthrow of the regime and the death of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, in Libya there are two rival governments, one in Tripoli (west), recognized by the UN and headed by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbayba, the other in the east, linked to the powerful Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Stephanie Williams, an American diplomat and former UN envoy to Libya, called for urgent international intervention.

“The moral imperative (…) of protection (including civilians), which was the motivation for the (military) intervention (against the Gaddafi regime) must now guide the actions of the international community after the floods that they caused massive destruction in eastern Libya and the death of thousands of innocent Libyans and expatriates,” he said via X (the former Twitter).

She proposed the creation of a “joint national/international mechanism to oversee the funds” of aid, fighting against a “predatory” political class that she says will show a tendency to “use the pretext of national sovereignty” to direct aid operations. according to its interests”.

“Immense Needs”

Marshal Haftar’s spokesman, Ahmad al-Mismari, spoke of “huge needs for reconstruction” during a press conference last Friday night in Benghazi, a major city in eastern Libya and cradle of the 2011 uprising.

Although the tragedy unfolded in an area under the control of the eastern Libyan camp, Mr Dbayba intervened, commenting that the lack of adequate development plans and “the lapse of time” had played a role.

“It is one of the consequences of conflicts, wars and the embezzlement of funds,” he judged.

A petition posted on the internet that gathered around 2,000 signatures within 24 hours calls for the help of the international community and the formation of an “international independent commission of inquiry” to shed light on the circumstances of the disaster and identify those responsible in order to bring them to justice. .