The disaster has unfolded in the city of Derna, where two dams ruptured over the weekend, revealing the full extent of the damage.
Tamer Ramadan, the Libya envoy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, revealed this staggering figure during a United Nations briefing held in Geneva, characterizing the death toll as "huge."
Meanwhile, the health minister in the eastern administration of Libya confirmed over 3,000 casualties, with Othman Abdel Jalil conveying on Al-Massar TV channel that the number of missing individuals could reach the grim milestone of 10,000.
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In Derna, entire neighborhoods have been swept away, and the local cemetery now holds more than 700 unidentifiable bodies, with as many as 5,000 people still missing.
Hichem Chkiouat, the minister of civil aviation, who visited Derna, described the situation as disastrous, saying, "Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings. I am not exaggerating when I say that 25% of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed." He emphasized that the final death toll would be "really, really big."
A 2022 report published in an academic journal had warned of the vulnerability of the dams to collapse in the event of a flood equivalent to that of 1959, which has now tragically come to pass.
Libya, rich in oil, has been plagued by political strife, corruption, and foreign interference since the 2011 uprising that led to the fall and death of the long-time ruler, Muammar Gaddafi. Efforts to establish a unified, functional government have faltered, resulting in two rival administrations backed by their respective militias in Tripoli and Tobruk. Infrastructure and public services have suffered, with minimal regulation of private construction.