Current:Home > MyAP PHOTOS: Satellite images show flood devastation that killed more than 11,000 in Libya -ProfitZone
AP PHOTOS: Satellite images show flood devastation that killed more than 11,000 in Libya
View
Date:2025-04-16 08:08:28
DERNA, Libya (AP) — Images taken by satellite show the physical devastation from a flood that killed at least 11,300 people in the eastern Libyan city of Derna.
Two dams above Derna burst early Monday under the pressure from rain dropped by a storm. The pent-up water swept blocks of low-lying downtown Derna out to the Mediterranean Sea.
Many said they heard loud explosions as the dams exploded. A flood several meters (many feet) high rolled down a mountainside into the city.
Images made about 400 miles above the earth’s surface show that the storm left a brown layer of mud and dirt across the city.
Untold numbers are buried under mud and debris that includes overturned cars and chunks of concrete. The death toll soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue, Marie el-Drese, secretary-general of the Libyan Red Crescent, told The Associated Press by phone Thursday.
She said that an additional 10,100 had been reported missing. Health authorities previously put the death toll in Derna at 5,500.
The satellite pictures show dirt and debris stretching out to sea into Derna’s shallow waters, which appeared visibly brown near the shoreline. Many bodies washed out to sea have come back with the tide, rescue workers say.
The floods have displaced at least 30,000 people in Derna, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, and several thousand others were forced to leave their homes in other eastern towns, it said.
Bridges and other basic infrastructure have also been wiped out, especially buildings near the Wadi Derna river.
Because of the damage to roads, aid only began trickling into the city on Tuesday evening.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Philadelphia radio host Howard Eskin suspended from Phillies home games over ‘unwelcome kiss’
- Delta flight diverts to New York after passengers are served spoiled food
- Biden fixes 161-year-old oversight, awards Medal of Honor to 2 Civil War soldiers
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Angel Reese cries tears of joy after finding out she's an All-Star: 'I'm just so happy'
- Ex-astronaut who died in Washington plane crash was doing a flyby near a friend’s home, NTSB says
- US new-vehicle sales barely rose in the second quarter as buyers balked at still-high prices
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- North Carolina Medicaid managed care extended further starting this week
Ranking
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Las Vegas Aces dispatch Fever, Caitlin Clark with largest WNBA crowd since 1999
- Screenwriter Robert Towne, known for 'Chinatown' and 'The Last Detail,' dies at 89
- Shannon Beador apologizes to daughters over DUI: 'What kind of example am I at 59?'
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- US Marshals Service finds 200 missing children in nationwide operation
- Hurricane season 2024 is here. Here’s how to stay prepared
- Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese strengthen players' union seeking larger piece of financial pie
Recommendation
Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
Worsening floods and deterioration pose threats to US dam safety
Angel Reese cries tears of joy after finding out she's an All-Star: 'I'm just so happy'
USDA: More than 4,600 pounds of egg products recalled in 9 states for health concerns
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Shohei Ohtani won't take part in All-Star Home Run Derby
No fireworks July 4th? Why drones will dazzle the sky
Plans to demolish Texas church where gunman opened fire in 2017 draw visitors back to sanctuary