More than 10,000 people were missing, after devastating flooding hit the northeastern part of the country, the Libyan authorities said.
The death toll, which has already surpassed 5,000, could reach up to 20,000 in the coming days, based on the number of districts that were wiped out, the mayor of Derna, Abdulmenam Al-Ghaithi, told the local news media.
Desperately needed aid was trickling into the eastern half of the country by yesterday. But the coastal city of Derna, much of which was destroyed by torrents of water from two dams that collapsed, was accessible only from an unpaved road.
