Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

UN says death toll from Libya floods includes 400 migrants

A car destroyed by fatal floods sits on a rooftop in Derna, Libya, September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

A car destroyed by fatal floods sits on a rooftop in Derna, Libya, September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

GENEVA : A U.N. humanitarian office report said on Tuesday that some 400 migrants were killed in the floods that hit eastern Libya last week, citing hospital reports.

The report quoted the U.N. health agency, the World Health Organization, as saying that 4,000 deaths had so far been reported in Libya by hospitals, including 400 migrants.

Thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants are temporarily based in Libya and many make the perilous Mediterranean crossing each year to flee poverty and conflict.

The International Organization for Migration had previously said that over 100,000 migrants lived in flood-hit areas, including more than 8,000 in the city of Derna. They are mostly from Chad, Egypt and Sudan, it said.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by William Maclean)

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.