Deadly floods swept through northeastern Libya over the weekend, killing more than 300 people and leaving as many as 6,000 missing in the eastern port city of Derna. The floods were apparently caused by the collapse of dams, according to a spokesman for the Libyan National Army that controls eastern Libya.
Heavy rainfall over the weekend in the country’s northeast swelled waters past riverbanks, and officials said the force of the floodwaters swept away hundreds of homes and washed away roads. Stranded residents said they were trapped inside homes and cars, according to footage on social media.
The exact number killed was unclear because search efforts were still ongoing, a spokesman for authorities in that region said. The internationally recognized authority in western Libya, in Tripoli, said it had sent ambulances, rescue convoys and doctors to the area, and it declared three days of mourning for the victims of the flooding.
Libya has been divided between two rival governments and prime ministers: an internationally recognized government based in Tripoli, and a separately administered region in the east.
