More than ten thousand people feared dead as devastating floods sweep through Libya

In a cataclysmic disaster wrought by intense rainfall from the Mediterranean Storm Daniel, which hit at full force on Sunday, September 10th, as many as 10,000 people in Libya are feared dead after a devastating surge of floodwaters lashed the country's east coast.

Officials and aid agencies confirmed today that more than 2,000 people have already been killed in one of the coastal cities, but another 10,000 people are believed to still be missing.

Witnesses stated that apartment blocks were collapsing into rubble and debris, houses were being swept away and a seafront bridge had been completely destroyed.

The horrific situation in Libya was captured on camera, and the startling images show entire neighbourhoods being washed out to sea in raging floodwaters, whilst cars, masonry and debris were strewn across the streets.

Tamar Ramadan, Libyan envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, announced this news today during a press briefing, saying that the death toll is "huge and might reach thousands".

Initially, officials expected the death toll to rise substantially higher after Storm Daniel barrelled across the Mediterranean Sea and towards a country that had been crumbling after more than a decade of Libyan conflict.

In the northern city of Derna, the area which was most impacted, more than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead from the unprecedented flooding.

Approximately a quarter of the city was wiped out after two damns burst and Derna was officially declared a disaster zone leading to all electricity and communication being cut off.

According to authorities, an additional 1,200 people in Derna were injured due to the flooding.

Minister of Civil Aviation, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, vividly described the nightmarish scenes unfolding in Derna, claiming that "bodies are lying everywhere — in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings".

He continued: "The number of bodies recovered in Derna is more [than] 1,000. I am not exaggerating when I say that 25 per cent of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed."

Reports show that the eastern cities of Benghazi, Sousse and Al-Marj have also been affected by the storm, with some of the cities' officials having recorded several fatalities.

General Khalifa Haftar, head of the powerful Libyan military faction that controls the eastern part of the country, announced today that desperate rescue and relief efforts are already underway to assist those affected by the devastation.

"We issued immediate instructions to use all our capabilities," General Hafter stated in a televised interview, "provide the needed support of all urgent medical equipment, operate medical convoys and to allocate shelters to those who lost their homes."

In the Libyan capital, Tripoli, Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah also announced today that an aid plane carrying 14 tonnes of supplies was en route to Benghazi.

Along with medical personnel, relief convoys are moving west to east in divided Libya as the Tripoli government has declared the eastern region a disaster zone, whilst vowing to send assistance as soon as possible.

However, aid groups are predicting that the death toll will rise even higher in the coming days, signalling an urgent need for Libyan support.