The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, called on Tuesday a flood that killed thousands in Derna, Libya, “a symbol of the world’s ills” as he opened the annual General Assembly.
“Even as we speak now, bodies are washing ashore from the same Mediterranean Sea where billionaires sunbathe on their super yachts.” Guterres said.
The UN Secretary General indicated that Derna was a sad snapshot of the state of the world, adding that it was “the flood of inequity, of injustice, of inability to confront the challenges in our midst.”
Storm Daniel and ensuing floods hit eastern coastal cities, especially Derna, Al-Bayda and Al-Marj, on September 10 and 11. Two dams collapsed in Derna valley – an area locally known as Wadi Derna -, washing away entire neighborhoods and killing a number of entire families. The flood torrent obliterated around a quarter or the Mediterranean city of Derna.
The full scale of the death toll has yet to emerge and officials have given widely varying death tolls. The World Health Organization has confirmed 3,922 deaths.
