Libya reports 3,297 missing from 2023 Derna flood disaster in 1st official tally

TRIPOLI, Libya/ISTANBUL

Libya’s General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons announced Wednesday that 3,297 people remain missing from catastrophic floods that hit the eastern city of Derna nearly two years ago in the first such official tally.

The announcement came during a press conference in Tripoli by the head of the authority, Kamal al-Siwi, according to a post by the authority on the US social media company Facebook’s platform.

“We have recorded 3,297 missing people from the victims of Storm Daniel, which struck the city of Derna,” said Al-Siwi.

He said the authority had collected around 3,078 reference DNA samples and sent them to the laboratories department, which has completed their analysis in full, finalized the victims’ genetic database and begun analyzing bone samples from unidentified bodies.

On Sept. 10, 2023, the Mediterranean storm Daniel swept through several areas of eastern Libya, most notably the cities of Benghazi, Al Bayda, Al Marj and Susah, in addition to Derna -- the hardest-hit -- after the collapse of the Al-Bilad and Abu Mansour dams.

The dams had held back waters in Wadi Derna, which once released, surged powerfully, sweeping away everything in its path. The disaster killed 4,540 people — 3,964 Libyans and 576 foreigners — according to official figures.

Since then, no official tally of the missing had been announced until Al-Siwi’s statement.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, 12 countries came to Libya’s aid: Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, Malta, Italy, Spain and France.

On July 28, 2024, the Derna Criminal Court sentenced 12 officials to prison terms ranging from 9 to 27 years over the collapse of the Derna dams, according to a statement by Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sour.