APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has called for solidarity with Libya and its people, and the families who have lost loved ones due to floods that have left more than 11,300 people dead.
Expressing his condolences once again over the weekend Mahamat said he is closely following the emergency situation and the devastating impact of flooding, which has displaced at least 40,085 people with thousands more unaccounted for, and destroyed entire communities.
The chairperson reiterated his appeal to Member States and international partners to urgently step up support in solidarity with the State and people of Libya in order to address growing humanitarian needs following the devastation of Storm Daniel.
The chairperson commends the State of Libya, humanitarian actors and volunteers for their tireless response efforts and added that the AU
The chairperson said the AUC will deploy a multi-sectoral team of experts from its different departments as well as from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to further support the State of Libya in its ongoing response efforts.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that 2,217 buildings were destroyed alone in Derna, the port city that has been hit hardest by Libya’s worst floods in decades.
Also on Friday, Libya’s Housing and Utilities Projects Implementation Agency revealed that the floods had damaged about 5,000 homes. It added that the floods have also ruined water supply networks, leaving people in the affected areas with a serious water shortage of drinking water.
Official statistics show the floods have left another 10,000 missing while mass burial of the retrieved bodies has continued in Derna after taking their photos, and the city’s public prosecutor is overseeing the collection of DNA samples from the victims so that they could be identified by their relatives later.
MG/APA