Summary

  • The death toll following the flooding in Libya has reached around 11,000, the Red Crescent in Derna says

  • Some 20,000 people have been reported as missing, it says, as workers continue to recover bodies

  • Most of the thousands of deaths could have been avoided, the UN's World Meteorological Organization says

  • Warnings should have been issued, leading to evacuations, "and we could have avoided most of the human casualties"

  • Meanwhile, Libyan politician Guma El-Gamaty says the flooding was a disaster waiting to happen

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily McGarvey and Holly Wallis

  1. Thank you for joining us

    Libya flooding: Drone footage captures submerged neighbourhoods

    This is where we will end our live coverage of the Libya floods for today. You can keep across our coverage here:

    • Survivors shared harrowing tales of survival, such as the man who clung to powerlines to save himself from being swept away by the torrent
    • Satellite images show the devastated city of Derna before and after Storm Daniel made landfall
    • And this story explores the impacts of the political turmoil in Libya, including accusations Derna had been neglected for years

    The editors today were Rob Corp, Holly Wallis and Emily McGarvey, with writers Adam Durbin, Andrew Rhoden-Paul, Tarik Habte, Jacqueline Howard, Jack Burgess, Beth Timmins and James Harness.

  2. What's the latest?

    A view shows people looking at the damaged areas, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna,Reuters

    Here's what we learned today as authorities continue to take stock of the damage after Libya's catastrophic flooding:

    • Around 11,000 people are believed to have died, according to the Red Crescent, though Derna mayor Abdulmenam Al-Ghaithi fears that up to 20,000 people perished in the port city alone
    • Thousands more have been displaced after entire neighbourhoods were washed away when two dams burst under pressure from Storm Daniel's intense rainfall
    • Most human casualties could have been avoided if authorities had issued appropriate warnings and undertaken evacuations, the UN's World Meteorological Organization has said
    • The UN has also warned that disease from contaminated water is the next threat for people affected by the disaster
    • Politicians from both sides of the divided country are calling for an investigation - including Guma El-Gamaty who blamed the crisis on “failure of the state, weak mechanisms, weak governments, weak institutions”
    • The World Health Organization will release $2m (£1.6m) to help the emergency effort

  3. 'The bodies of women and children were floating past us'

    Joel Gunter
    BBC News

    Image of Derna showing where river flooded as it reached the seaReuters

    The first sign that something was wrong was the sound of the dogs barking.

    It was 2.30am and dark outside. When Husam Abdelgawi, a 31-year-old accountant in the Libyan city of Derna, got up and went sleepily downstairs to check on them, he felt water under his feet.

    Husam opened the front door of the house he shared with his younger brother, Ibrahim. More water flooded in, pulling the door off of its hinges.

    The brothers ran to the back door, where they were met by a "ghastly, unimaginable scene, worse than death itself to witness", Husam said, in a phone interview from the city of Al-Qubbah.

    "The bodies of women and children were floating past us. Cars and entire houses were caught up in the current. Some of the bodies were swept by the water into our house."

    Read the full account from the Abdelgawi brothers and other survivors

  4. 'Whole families have perished'

    A man in scrubs sits on the muddy ground looking exhausted, DernaGetty Images

    Local people say whole residential buildings have been destroyed in Derna, pictured here

    Hamad al-Shalawi, former head of the local municipality in Derna and member of the city's disaster committee, tells BBC Arabic that half of the city has been lost.

    Al-Shalawi says the number of casualties increases every minute. The Red Crescent says it is now around 11,000 - he estimates it will likely reach 20,000 deaths.

    "The city has a very foul smell from all the dead bodies, made worse by the humidity and heat as the bodies are decomposing quickly," he says.

    "Whole families have perished. Siblings, parents, children, grandparents - all perished together at the same time - whole residential buildings have disappeared."

    He explains that because the floods happened at around 3am, everyone was at home, meaning that "in seconds, the whole city was destroyed".

    Though international aid operations have now arrived, he says there is still a shortage of water, medical supplies and power to operate medical equipment.

    "There are other affected areas - not just Derna - many we have not even made contact with," he adds.

  5. 'I couldn't recognise Derna'

    People walk amongst debrisGetty Images

    A doctor who was one of the first to enter Derna after the floods hoping to find his relatives has been speaking to our BBC Arabic team.

    He described hearing calls for help from trapped residents, but he couldn't reach them.

    "At the start we were listening out for the calls for help but often we couldn’t locate the voices. We couldn’t move anything. There were cars thrown around everywhere and we couldn’t move the cars," the doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, says.

    "I can’t describe what it was like at the start. I couldn’t recognise Derna when I entered. Rescue operations improved later on but on Tuesday it was chaotic."

  6. Dead, missing and displaced rising - Red Crescent

    A man in muddy scrubs speaks on a phoneGetty Images

    We've just had an update on the death toll, now believed to be around 11,000, from Salem al-Naas, the head of the Libyan Red Crescent's Media Centre. Here's a bit more on what he has to say.

    "I think that the number of deaths have now exceeded 10,000 or 11,000 people. The number of missing people reached about 20,000," he says, adding that the numbers of deaths, missing and displaced people are still increasing.

    "The current situation is catastrophic. It is a tragic disaster," he tells Reuters.

    Al-Naas says around 3,000 people are displaced and currently in Red Crescent-run shelters.

    "The supplies are arriving and have not stopped," he adds, "however, the disaster is bigger than the amounts of supplies.”

  7. Death toll rises to about 11,000, with 20,000 still missing - Red Crescent
    Breaking

    The death toll following the flood in Libya has reached up to 11,000, according to the Red Crescent in Derna.

    The organisation, which is on the ground providing aid to survivors, told Reuters news agency a further 20,000 people remain missing.

  8. People were told to stay inside their houses - Libyan politician

    A car swept up by floods leans diagonally against a wallGetty Images

    There are now growing calls in Libya for an urgent inquiry into the catastrophic flooding of Derna that has killed thousands of people.

    Politicians from both sides of the divided country have been calling on the attorney general to open an investigation, including Guma El-Gamaty, a Libyan politician who we heard from a little earlier.

    El-Gamaty says investigators should look into what information was distributed to the population in the lead-up to the floods.

    He tells the BBC people in the flood zone should have been evacuated, but "on the contrary they were told to stay put and stay inside their houses and not go out".

    "Obviously there are failings," he says.

  9. In pictures: Flood water leaves mud and destruction inside Derna school

    We've received these pictures taken inside a school in Derna.

    The powerful tsunami of flood water damaged the building and left a thick layer of mud and debris across the floor.

    The name and exact location of the school is not known.

    Inside a Derna school, thick mud on the ground and damaged walls.Reuters
    Inside a Derna school, thick mud on the ground and damaged walls.Reuters
    Inside a Derna school, thick mud on the ground and damaged walls.Reuters

  10. Still about 2,000 bodies in the sea - Red Crescent
    Breaking

    Painstaking efforts are under way to recover the bodies of people who lost their lives in the flood - but the scale of the task is enormous.

    Spokesperson for the Red Crescent in Derna, Salem al-Naas, tells the BBC "there are around 2,000 bodies in the sea" - adding that strong winds have blown bodies to nearby areas of Shahat, Martuba and Marzam.

    "We saw this with our own eyes, we were at the Red Crescent hub and the force (of the wind) was strong."

    He adds there are also bodies being pulled "from houses and from under the rubble".

  11. WHO to release $2m for Libya emergency

    The director general of the World Health Organisation in Geneva, December 2022REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

    The World Health Organization is adding its voice to the international response, saying it will release $2m (£1.6m) from its contingency fund to support the emergency effort in Libya.

    The organisation's chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also revealed that "28 metric tonnes of trauma, surgical and emergency supplies are due to arrive tomorrow from our logistics hub in Dubai".

    The WHO has now "activated its network of emergency medical teams", he adds.

    Eight countries and organisations "have offered their assistance" and a team from France "has already deployed its field hospital in the affected area".

  12. Appeal to help 250,000 people in worst-hit areas launched

    People walk amidst the debris, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in DernaReuters

    People walk amidst the debris in flood-ravaged Derna

    As rescue efforts continue, the UN has launched an urgent appeal for Libya and is aiming to raise $71.4m (£57.3m) in aid.

    The call for help highlighted a "heightened concern" that people will become severely ill or die if "immediate and adequate aid" is not sent to affected areas.

    The fundraising effort targets just over a quarter of the 884,000 people the UN has said have been directly affected.

    UN analysis indicates 2,200 buildings have been hit by flooding in Derna after two dams collapsed, with the document also describing the situation in the submerged city of Sousse as "critical".

  13. Derna may not be habitable ever again, says analyst

    Image of Jalel Harchaoui

    An analyst for a leading defence and security think tank has told the BBC "it's not clear that Derna is going to be salvaged as a city" - given the scale of the damage from the flooding.

    Jalel Harchaoui, from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), says the people overseeing the rescue and reconstruction efforts are the same two rival political factions responsible for the instability in the region and Libya more broadly.

    He notes it is possible Derna may never "exist again as a city with inhabitants", as no-one is sure it will be viable after the floods for a rebuild to take place.

    Should this be the case, Harchaoui says he is concerned that up to 80,000 people could be displaced and may struggle to integrate in other parts of Libya because of the deep divides in the country.

  14. Watch: Recovery teams clamber over debris

    Recovery efforts are under way in Derna as teams clamber over debris to reach homes that were inundated by the flood.

    Rescuers clamber over debris left behind by Libya flood

  15. 'I've lost four members of my family in Libya'

    Libya is home to many Egyptians who have made the long journey from across the border to find work. A number were based in Derna when it was hit by deadly floods on Sunday.

    The town of Beni Suef, south of Cairo, is mourning the deaths of friends and family killed in Derna.

    Hassan Abdel SalehinReuters

    Hassan Abdel Salehin grieves for members of his family lost in the flood

    “I have lost four members of my family," says Hassan Abdel Salehin.

    His son, two nephews and the son of his brother-in-law are among 74 people from the same town who died in the flood.

    “My son called his brother last Thursday for the last time, telling him that he will get clothes for the children and come to visit Egypt... oh dear son.”

    Mohamed ZaghloulReuters

    Mohamed Zaghloul says people as young as 15 travel from Egypt to Libya for work

    "Most of the people in our town are working in Derna, even youths as young as 20 or 15 years old go to work there," says Mohamed Zaghloul who lives in another town.

    Zaghloul says more than 2,000 people from where he lives are in Libya, and some families have lost between one and three members each.

    "Losses are more than if there was a war,” he adds.

    On Wednesday, the Egyptian government said 87 bodies had so far been returned from Libya.

  16. Germany sends aid to Libya

    A Female Military Captain watches as two German armed forces transport planes loaded with technical relief supplies are pictured before flying to LibyaEPA

    A military captain watches as armed forces planes are loaded with aid in Germany

    Foreign aid bound for Libya including "goods for 1,000 people" has been readied in Germany to be flown out, a spokesperson of Germany's agency for technical relief has said.

    "We have 100 large tents with us. We have camp beds, blankets, sleeping bags so that the people have a roof over their heads," the spokesperson Michael Matrian told Reuters news agency.

    Matrian also said tents and small power supplies have been packed for people affected by the floods.

    Two German armed forces transport planes loaded with technical relief supplies are pictured before flying to LibyaEPA

    The relief supplies are bound for Libya and include beds, tents, blankets, and sleeping mats

  17. Derna mayor calls for help to recover bodies

    DernaGetty Images

    The mayor of Derna has called for urgent help from teams specialising in recovering bodies, in a bid to prevent a second wave of deaths from disease.

    Meanwhile, rescuers from a number of countries are searching for possible survivors in the mud and ruins of the port city.

    One aid team compared the city to a warzone.

    Ibrahim Ozer, with the Turkish Red Crescent, told BBC News: "It's a mixture of storm and earthquake. Most of the buildings were completely damaged.

    "This morning we witnessed one body was found just on the shore and the second one, it was a kid, a ten-year-old kid I guess, he was also found under the rubble. So that’s the situation right now."

  18. Graphic showing properties damaged in the Derna flood.

    Analysis by the UN shows more than 2,200 buildings in Derna were exposed to rushing floodwaters.

    Each red dot on the map represents one structure hit by flooding. In the neighbourhood of Al-Eilwa, around 96% of properties were reported to have been flooded.

    Many properties which stood near the river have disappeared, leaving only their foundations visible.

    Graphic showing the riverside properties in Derna which were washed away.

  19. Watch: Scale of Libya flood disaster explained

    Our colleagues at BBC Verify have been monitoring video and satellite images of Derna - before and after the port city was hit by flood water.

    In the video below, Rajini Vaidyanathan explains how the flood occurred and the extent of the damage it caused.

    Rajini Vaidyanathan shows how the floods devastated Derma

  20. This was a failure by all, says Libyan politician

    A Libyan politician tells the BBC that the country's deadly flooding was a disaster waiting to happen, and all “across the board” are to blame.

    Guma El-Gamaty, a Libyan academic and head of the Taghyeer Party, criticises the “failure of the state, weak mechanisms, weak governments, weak institutions”.

    On Sunday, two dams burst, releasing a massive surge of water which completely destroyed large parts of Derna city - the worst hit by the floods.

    El-Gamaty says that over the last 12 to 13 years [since Colonel Gaddafi was overthrown and killed], “budgets have been allocated to repair those dams - but those budgets did not go to where they should have been allocated”.

    The failure is by all. I'm not pinpointing to specifically somebody in the east or in the west, it's a failure of all central governments, all national governments and all institutions over the last twelve years."

    Guma El-Gamaty