12 Palestinian amongst dead in Libya floods

Some 12 Palestinians have been killed as a result of floods in Libya caused by Storm Daniel, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last night.

The Consulate General of Palestine in Benghazi reported the death of Khaled Muhammad Abd Al-Razzaq Nofal and his five-year-old son Yasin. Scores more remaining missing.

The political adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ambassador Ahmed Al-Deek, said: “We are following a real disaster and we have confirmed information about the loss of dozens of Palestinian families. We ask God that they will be found alive.”

Earlier on yesterday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh announced that a large number of bodies had been swept into the sea by torrents, stressing that there were problems with recovering them. He called for specialised teams in rescue and search to assist.

READ: Libya floods wipe out quarter of city, 10,000 feared missing

“We do not need any food or medicine, but rather we need teams specialised in rescue and search,” he said, adding: “We have a large number of bodies swept into the sea by the floods, and we have a problem with how to recover them.”

At least 10,000 people are feared missing in Libya as a result of the floods caused by a huge storm that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern city of Derna.

Storm Daniel has now made its way to the besieged Gaza Strip where the torrential rain has led to widespread flooding.

“Many homes were flooded and trees were uprooted by rainwater,” spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense Service in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, said.