Of the 145 Egyptian nationals who perished in the floods in Libya, 75 were from the village of Nazlat Al Sharif. The shock wave is immense.
There are 145 Egyptian nationals among the victims of the floods in Libya, according to the Libyan authorities. A farming village in the Nile Valley was particularly affected by the disaster. Of the thousand inhabitants of Nazlat Al Sharif, around a hundred young men had emigrated to Derna to work in construction companies. 75 of them died in the floods and others are still missing. The shock wave is immense in the village.
“Everyone had their name written on their body”
Every home has lost a son, a father, a friend. Sayed addresses his deceased brother: “I miss you, I won’t find you again, I miss your voice.” The 20-year-old young man appears smiling in the photo, on the still intact Derna corniche. “It’s before his death. A photo of him standing by the sea, a souvenir photo”, sighs Sayed. His body was found in the water and flown back to Egypt. Ahmad, the eldest of the siblings, went to recognize him at the airport. “The water returned the bodies after three or four days. The water had damaged them. The names were written on the bodies, everyone had their name written on the body, on the feet“, he says.
>> Floods in Libya: “It’s because of corruption”, accuses a disaster survivor
In the village, one man from each family had emigrated to Derna to work in construction and send money home. Hamed also lost a brother, who leaves behind five children: “My brother, the oldest, died in Libya. He worked as a laborer, helping us, the children, the parents, to eat and drink. God grant me my brother’s children but I have no solution for them, I really don’t know what to do.”
The Egyptian government has promised the equivalent of 3,000 euros to each bereaved household. Welcome help, emphasize the families, but which will never be worth the lives swept away by the waters of Derna.