APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South Africa’s President has expressed sadness at two natural disasters that have claimed close to 8,000 lives collectively and displaced tens of thousands of residents in eastern Libya and Morocco.
More than 6,000 people have perished due to floods associated with Storm Daniel in eastern Libya on Monday while about 3,000 people died in an earthquake last weekend in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
“South Africa shares the pain and loss felt by the people of eastern Libya and Morocco,” Ramaphosa said in a statement on Wednesday.
The death toll from devastating floods in Libya’s eastern city of Derna is expected to rise as recovery operations continue in the coastal city that was pummelled by Storm Daniel.
The International Organisation for Migration in Libya says at least 30,000 people have been displaced in Derna.
Latest figures from Morocco’s interior ministry put the death toll from last Friday’s earthquake at more than 2,900 people.
“These disasters highlight once more the frailty of life when confronted with the forces of nature,” Ramaphosa said.
JN/APA