Image source, Reuters

Emergency workers in Libya are in a "race against time" to bury the dead from the flood in Derna to prevent disease, the Libyan Ambulance and Emergency Service has told Al-Hadath TV.

It says one of the hospitals in Derna city was filled with bodies which had to be removed for burial.

Samples are taken from the bodies for DNA analysis.

Rescue teams have been able to enter several remote areas in Derna and Sousse but an Al-Hadath correspondent says there are some parts that are still difficult to reach.

The BBC Global Disinformation Team analysed three new websites in Nigeria and found many false stories.

If you've just joined us, our main news this morning is that international efforts to help Libya in the wake of catastrophic floods are gathering pace, as the number of people feared dead continues to rise.

Rescue teams from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar are among those to have arrived.

The mayor of the devastated city of Derna estimates that as many as 20,000 people may have died.

He said the figure was based on the number of districts completely destroyed when two dams burst on Sunday, releasing a huge surge of water.

Many bodies remain under the rubble of collapsed buildings or in the sea.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The Prime Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba has suspended learning countrywide for 10 days, in a show of solidarity with Libyans affected by the 11 September floods.

Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Unity, which is based in the capital, Tripoli, made the announcement late on Wednesday.

Libya’s two rival governments, the internationally-recognised Government of National Unity led by PM Al-Dabaiba and the eastern Libya government, led by PM Osama Hamad, have both been undertaking response efforts in the flood-afflicted eastern Libya.

The announcement added that the suspension of learning will allow schools to be used as temporary shelters for flood survivors.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

There are fears that as many as 20,000 people may have died in the catastrophic floods which hit the eastern region of Libya on Sunday.

The mayor of the devastated port city of Derna said the figure was based on the number of districts completely destroyed when two dams burst, releasing a tsunami of water as people slept.

More than 5,300 people have so far been confirmed dead and about 30,000 others displaced by the raging floods.

Relief workers from the medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières, are expected to arrive in the city today (Thursday), joining emergency teams.

Many bodies remain unrecovered under the rubble or in the sea, with rescue workers appealing for more body bags.

Thousands remain missing as rescuers struggle to get to Derna.

Workers are still pulling bodies from the water and the rubble after Sunday's flood in Derna.

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Uganda have banned political rallies organised by opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, citing public order breaches and defamation against the president.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tumusiime Katsigazi on Wednesday said one person had died and 10 others seriously injured in the National Unity Platform (NUP) party rallies.

Mr Katsigazi warned NUP supporters against what he described as "mob mentality...against civilians and security enforcers".

The police also accused Mr Kyagulanyi of promoting sectarianism in his rallies which started on Monday.

Mr Kyagulanyi has, however, vowed to go on with the rallies and urged his supporters to “wait for a signal”.

He is using the rallies to raise grassroots support ahead of the 2026 general elections.

Image source, AFP

A top court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has jailed an opposition politician for seven years after finding him guilty on 12 charges, including spreading false rumours and insulting the head of state.

Jean-Marc Kabund had been detained since August last year, when he was arrested for criticising President Felix Tshisekedi and his government.

Mr Kabund is a former vice-president of the DR Congo parliament. He was also a close ally of President Tshisekedi until their fall-out in early last year.

He went on to form the Alliance for Change political party, under which he planned to run for president in the December elections.

He will not have an opportunity for appeal as the decisions of the Court of Cassation, which sentenced him, are final and not subject to appeal.

"This is an extremely harsh decision, especially as there is no appeal," his lawyer Kadi Diko said after the Wednesday sentencing.

He told the Reuters news agency that Mr Kabund received four months each for the first nine offences and 16 months each for the last three.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, has announced that he's resigning.

He told the UN Security Council that the Sudan conflict which erupted between rival military factions in April risked becoming a full-blown civil war.

It comes more than three months after Sudan declared him unwelcome after the war erupted.

Five million people have been displaced in the clashes between the Sudanese armed forces and the rival paramilitary forces, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In his final speech to the Security Council, Mr Perthes was extremely critical of Sudan's military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF chief Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo better known as Hemedti.

Mr Perthes said the two leaders chose to plunge the country into a war that is leaving a tragic legacy of human rights abuses. He blamed the RSF for the sexual violence, looting and killings in areas it controls.

He also condemned the Sudanese armed forces for the indiscriminate aerial bombings.

As he was speaking medics in the city of Nyala in Darfur were dealing with the aftermath of yet another atrocity. Forty people died there in air strikes, adding to the more than 50 people who were killed on Sunday.

The RSF fighters are embedded in densely populated urban areas and the Sudanese military appears to view these areas as legitimate targets.

Read more:

• Sudan conflict: Looting spree in Khartoum as homeowners flee
• Call for gravediggers in Omdurman as fighting intensifies

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Greg Rasmussen is a wildlife conservationist, a man dedicated to protecting endangered species. But when he crashes his light aircraft deep in the Zimbabwean bush, he’ll become a prisoner in the landscape he strives to preserve. It’s a place known for breath-taking safari. But Greg must deal with life-threatening injuries and the searing heat. And then, as night closes in, the predators start circling…

Find out more about Greg’s conservation work at his website.

A Noiser production, written by Joe Viner.

Image source, Reuters

We're going to end our live coverage of this story now - but you can read more here:

• Our main story covers the destruction in Derna and how people are coping today. More than 5,300 people have died after floods in the city
• You can also see our maps showing why the damage to the port city was so catastrophic. Streets are covered in mud and rubble, and are littered with upturned vehicles
• And you can also read about why Libya's political turmoil worsened the situation

The editors were Dulcie Lee, Emily McGarvey, Lucy Fleming, Paul Gribben and Owen Amos. The writers were Ece Goksedef, Tarik Habte, Muthoni Muchiri, James Harness, Gem O'Reilly and Beth Timmins.

Image source, Reuters

We're closing our live page shortly. Here's how rescue and relief operations have progressed in the two days since Storm Daniel hit eastern Libya:

• More than 5,300 bodies have so far been recovered in Derna. This is the worst-affected city where at least 34,000 people have been displaced
• Rescue workers from Turkey and Egypt have arrived in the region to help
• With Libya divided between two rival governments, concerns have been raised that their rivalry will make aid missions more difficult
• However, the two appear to putting on a rare show of unity - though the Tripoli-based government has warned it will only accept foreign help where "necessary"
• The devastation in Derna was caused by two dams bursting - and their maintenance of has been called into question by rival groups
• More international emergency teams and humanitarian aid organisations are on their way, however the Red Cross admits the window to find survivors may be drawing to a close

The death toll from the flood that swept through Derna is expected to rise massively from 5,300, according to the charity Islamic Relief UK.

“As the moments go on we expect the number to be closer to doubling, if not quadrupling,” says its deputy director Salah Aboulgasem.

Lots of people in Derma lived on the river bank, he says. Flood water in that setting “takes no prisoners… thousands of people instantly drowned”.

Aboulgasem reveals that people are waiting to recover bodies from the sea based on the time of tide and as the sea water recedes, “they are finding bodies all around”.

He says aid agencies such as his are working as hard as possible but at the moment foreign aid is “trickling in”.

Kristina Voelk
BBC OS

Salah in north-east Libya tells me he has lost 150 members of his extended family in the floods.

“I was looking for families that are relatives to us, they were wiped out - I didn’t even find the streets where they used to live," he says.

“I was stunned, I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t do anything - you can’t imagine it is just a shock.

"No picture, no film can ever describe what we have seen. Can you imagine hundreds of bodies laid out on what used to be streets?"

He says he survived because he was in a safe area, but those who "came in the way of these waters, all of them were thrown in the sea".

Forces from the eastern administration's Libyan National Army and the country's Red Crescent have been at the forefront of initial rescue efforts in Derna.

Image source, Reuters

These new photos show the scale of the destruction in the port city, where more than 5,300 bodies have so far been recovered:

Image source, Reuters

One photographer captured this poignant image of a poster of late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona amidst the rubble:

Image source, Reuters

International rescue teams are now starting to arrive in the region.

Below are those deployed from Turkey's State Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (Afad) - trying to find those still trapped in buildings or bodies swept out to sea:

Image source, Afad/Getty Images

Image source, Afad/Getty Images

The Egyptian army has sent a rescue team to Derna, seen here earlier today assessing the devastation:

Image source, Reuters

Many Egyptians also died in the floods in Derna - most hailing from the same village, al-Sharif in Egypt's Beni Suef region.

More than 80 bodies arrived in al-Sharif today where Hassan El Salheen (below) was pictured weeping after burying his son:

Image source, Reuters

In al-Sharif, this woman holds up a photo showing her relative who died in Derna:

Image source, Reuters

In this video below, we see cars that were destroyed by the strong surge of water that forced its way through the port city of Derna.

Vehicles were dragged through the streets with some ending up by the ocean.

Image source, Al-Tahaddi FC

The devastating floods in Libya that swept away large parts of the port city of Derna have claimed the lives of a number of elite footballers, according to the Libya Football Federation (LFF).

The LFF announced the deaths of four footballers in the region - Shaheen Al-Jamil, Monder Sadaqa and brothers Saleh and Ayoub Sasi.

Sadaqa played for Derna-based Premier League side Darnes, where the Sasi brothers were part of the youth team. Al-Jamil recently signed for Al-Tahaddi, another Premier League team in the city of Benghazi.

BBC Sport Africa understands that another footballer, Ibrahim Al-Qaziri, also died in the floods. He had played for several Libyan Premier League sides and was most recently at second-tier Nusour Martouba.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The head of the Libyan doctors' union, Mohammed al-Ghoush, says there is an urgent need for forensic and rescue teams and others who can help with recovering bodies.

The situation requires international help, he tells Turkey-based Libya al-Ahrar TV, adding that there are enough Libyan doctors providing basic help in the city.

The TV station also quotes the head of the rescue committee, Islam Azouz, as saying there is a need for rubber boats and body bags as well as medical and food supplies for survivors.

Azouz is also cited as saying the city needs mobile bridges to connect its eastern and western parts after the collapse of all bridges.

Several Arab media outlets have been suggesting Libya's two rival governments have significantly hampered rescue efforts.

Qatar's Al Jazeera TV ran commentary by an Egyptian writer on its website, saying: “If there was a unified government and a state of institutions in Libya… maybe it [Libya] could have gotten ready with the plans needed for emergencies.”

Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat published a piece by a Libyan academic who accused the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) of "not offering anything but words" in its response to the disaster.

An editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper claimed people linked to those who control the eastern part of the country were "perpetuating the state of division".

Many other pan-Arab TV media outlets are avoiding taking sides, however.