in Libya, a man recounts the fear of his rescued family

Floods with terrible consequences. After storm Daniel which hit the eastern coast of Libya, local authorities counted 5,000 missing and at least 2,000 dead. France has promised to send a field hospital in the coming hours that can treat up to 500 people per day. In the meantime, victims continue to surface in Derna, the worst-hit city.

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Ghaith Shennib’s family survived after an ordeal that began at 1 a.m. Monday. If he wasn’t in Derna during the flood, it’s just the same. When he recounts the horror experienced by his cousin, his uncle and his aunt, he has the impression of fleeing with them from the inexorable advance of the water. “The water began to rise, step by step, up the stairs. My family climbed to the fifth floor, and finally to the roof. My cousin looked down at the street, it was completely covered in muddy water” , he explains.

Corpses everywhere, and the cries of the drowned echoing

Ghaith Shennib’s relatives were saved because they lived in a five-story building, the tallest on the street. After a night of hearing the cries of the drowned, they left the city on foot. During their march, they came across corpses scattered everywhere by the torrents of water spilled by the destruction of two dams. They finally found refuge on the heights of a nearby hill.

“On the way, they saw one of our neighbors, an old lady. Her body was on top of an electricity pylon.”

Ghaith Shennib

at franceinfo

Ghaith Shennib’s uncle and cousin insisted on returning to Derna to help find possible survivors. Her aunt remained hospitalized, in shock.

Given the difficult access to this town of 100,000 inhabitants, uncertainties remain over the number of victims of the disaster which could have left several thousand dead and missing, according to the authorities. Cut roads, landslides and floods prevented relief from reaching the population who had to manage by rudimentary means to recover bodies buried by the dozens in mass graves, according to images posted on social networks.