Derna in a sentence

DERNA: A flash flood-damaged area is pictured in Derna on September 14, 2023.

Even in Gaddafi’s time before his overthrow back in 2011 Derna was always viewed as a hotbed of Islamism and the dictator was happy enough for Derna’s residents to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Ali Khalifa, an oil rig worker from Zawiya, west of Tripoli, said his cousin and a group of other men from his neighbourhood joined a convoy of vehicles heading to Derna to help out with relief efforts.

A man receiving treatment at the hospital in Derna on Saturday.

An internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) is based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration operates in the east, including the city of Derna, which has been devastated by flooding.

An officer in a neon protective vest and military fatigues steps out of an armored vehicle in Derna, Libya.

A view shows rescue teams searching for dead bodies at a beach, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 17, 2023.

Ayman Jabril Saleh, a resident of Al-Bayda who survived the flood with his family inside their house, said "when we saw the state of Derna, we felt blessed" for suffering material losses only.

Floods have not been a rare occurrence in the history of Derna.

Forces of east-based commander Khalifa Hifter reclaimed Derna two years later.

However Mohammad al-Qabisi, head of Derna's Wahda Hospital, said no cholera had been recorded so far.

Last week, two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel, sending a wall of water gushing through Derna.

Massive destruction shattered the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna, home to about 100,000 people, where multi-storey buildings on the riverbanks collapsed and houses and cars vanished in the raging waters.

More than 5,000 people are feared dead, and in the coastal city of Derna, entire neighborhoods were carried out to sea, the local authorities said.

Much of Derna was built by Italy when Libya was under Italian occupation in the first half of the 20th century.

Rami Abdurrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said he hasn’t been able to confirm a single survivor out of the 150 Syrians missing in Derna since Sunday night.

Search teams are combing streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea to look for bodies in Derna, where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed thousands of people.

The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to Derna, hampering the arrival of international rescue teams and humanitarian assistance.

The nearby port city of Derna was the worst affected following the collapse of two dams, which wiped out a quarter of the area.

The toll from the devastating floods in Derna remains unclear.