the third French Civil Security plane was able to land near Derna

The third French Civil Security plane was able to land on the night of Saturday September 16 to Sunday September 17 in Libya. A week ago, the east of the country was swept by the powerful storm Daniel which caused deadly floods. The latest UN report shows at least 11,300 dead and 10,100 missing in the town of Derna alone. The disaster also left 170 dead in other places in eastern Libya.

A delayed landing

Scheduled for Thursday September 14, the landing of this third plane was delayed for administrative reasons. French Civil Security had not received authorization to fly over Libyan territory. This plane brings material for the construction of the field hospital sent by France. 30 French soldiers were also on board.

A Civil Security detachment arrived around 2 a.m. in Derna, after more than 48 hours of waiting, to set up the field hospital on land located to the west of this town of 100,000 inhabitants. “The town of Derna was particularly scarred by the failure of the two dams. The town was cut into three: relief is being organized in the western part. We are really close to the flooded zone”explains to franceinfo Captain William, operations officer of the detachment.

>> Floods in Libya: faced with the health threat, the country must bury its dead as quickly as possible

“We unload all the material and then it will take us around ten hours to assemble the entire structure”, he explained around 2 a.m. This field hospital must therefore open at midday on Sunday September 17. “It’s the little ants who are getting involved. Everyone is pitching in so that we can welcome our first patients as quickly as possible.”he says within the perimeter of the French detachment, because this intervention is taking place in a complex security context.

53 doctors, anesthesiologists, surgeons, midwives, nurses, pharmacists and logisticians are mobilized on site. France sent more than 30 tons of equipment to Libya.