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More than 5,000 people were killed in Libya after torrential rains caused two dams to burst near the coastal city of Derna, destroying much of the city and carrying entire neighborhoods into the sea, local authorities said on Tuesday. Libya, a North African nation splintered by a war, was ill-prepared for the storm, called Daniel, which swept across the Mediterranean Sea to batter its coastline. The country is administered by two rival governments, complicating rescue and aid efforts, and its infrastructure had been poorly maintained after more than a decade of political chaos. In the city of Derna alone, at least 5,200 people died, said Tarek al-Kharraz, a spokesman for the interior ministry of the government that oversees Eastern Libya, according to the Libyan television station al-Masar. At least 20,000 people were displaced.

Persons: Daniel, Tarek al Organizations: Eastern, Libyan Locations: Libya, Derna, African, Eastern Libya

Thousands of people have been killed in Libya in the flooding caused by heavy rains that devastated parts of the country this weekend, a disaster exacerbated by the collapse of two dams in the coastal city of Derna, aid agencies said on Tuesday. Tamer Ramadan, head of the Libya delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the death toll from the flooding was expected to reach thousands in coming days. Speaking to reporters at a U.N. briefing via videoconference from Tunisia, he said 10,000 people were missing, and that those figures were based on reports from the Libyan Red Crescent on the ground. A Libyan ambulance and emergency services department said least 2,300 people had died and more than 5,000 were missing after heavy rainfall over the weekend in the northeast of Libya swelled waters over riverbanks, sweeping away homes and cutting off roads. The collapse of the dams, south of Derna, deepened the disaster after they unleashed water that swept through the city and carried “entire neighborhoods” into the sea, Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, the dominant political force in the area, said in a televised news conference on Monday.

Persons: Tamer Ramadan, Ahmed al Organizations: International Federation of Red, Red Crescent Societies, Crescent, Libyan National Army Locations: Libya, Derna, videoconference, Tunisia, Libyan

Deadly floods swept through northeastern Libya over the weekend, with the top official in the region warning that the toll could exceed 2,000 dead as rescue teams searched for survivors. It was not immediately clear what the head of the divided country’s eastern region, Osama Hamad, or the spokesman were basing their numbers on. But the flooding was centered in the region under Mr. Hamad’s administration. The internationally recognized government in western Libya, in Tripoli, has not put out figures. “Entire neighborhoods have been swept away by the sea, and entire neighborhoods have disappeared with their inhabitants,” Mr. Hamad said in a phone interview with the Libyan television channel al-Masar on Monday from the port city of Derna in eastern Libya.

Persons: Osama Hamad, ” Mr, Hamad Organizations: Libyan Locations: Libya, Tripoli, Derna

For years, the European Union has funded the Libyan Coast Guard in an effort to stop migrants and refugees arriving on its shores. But those returned to Libya can face abuse and torture in detention camps run by the militias. The fighting began when members of the Special Deterrence Force, which oversees some prisons in Tripoli, arrested Col. Mahmoud Hamza , leader of the 444 Brigade. The deterrence force said that Colonel Hamza was wanted but did not publicly say why. The tensions in Tripoli could be seen by other militias as an opportunity to try to establish a foothold in the capital.

Persons: Col, Mahmoud Hamza, Hamza, ”, Emadeddin Badi, Abdul Hamid Dbeiba, ” — Mary Fitzgerald, Mohammed Abdusamee Organizations: European Union, Libyan Coast Guard, Brigade, Force, Atlantic Council, Mercy, Middle East Institute Locations: Libya, Tripoli, “ Tripoli, Washington

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