The European Union said in a statement on Thursday that it continued to support the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Libya through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which it announced on Wednesday.
The statement indicated that new offers from EU Member States included a medical team of 53 people from France, shelter items, heavy machinery, including rubble removal trucks, one diving specialized team with three zodiac boats and two transport vehicles, as well as two search and rescue helicopters from Italy.
“These offers come in addition to assistance already provided by Germany, Romania and Finland in the form of shelter items, generators, food items, as well as hospital tents and water tanks channelled via the Mechanism.” The EU indicated, saying the Netherlands offered to deploy a technical expertise team, including IT, logistics and mapping experts.
The EU released on Wednesday an initial €500,000 in humanitarian funding to tackle the most urgent needs of people in Libya affected by the impact of Storm Daniel.
EU humanitarian aid experts are being deployed to the field to rapidly assess the emerging humanitarian needs on the ground. The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre, the statement has said, stands ready to coordinate further offers of assistance.
Storm Daniel hit eastern coastal cities, especially Derna, Al-Bayda and Al-Marj, on Saturday. Two dams collapsed in Derna valley, washing away entire neighborhoods and killing entire families. The flood torrent obliterated around a quarter or the Mediterranean city of Derna.
