Algeria: Massive fires broke out on Friday night in the neighboring states of Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou in eastern Algeria. While the burning of Tizi Ouzou was extinguished, operations are continuing to control the Bejaia fire, according to a civil protection statement published on Saturday.
A fire broke out in the Mahoui forest near the city of Tishi, another fire in the Ish El-Baz forest in the province of Bejaia, and a third fire in the forest of the village of Igdassen in the province of Tizi Ouzou.
Civil Protection stated that “the Mahwi forest fire was extinguished and is under guard,” while extinguishing operations “are continuing in the Ish Al-Baz forest” and “the fire is under control.”
In Tizi Ouzou, the fire was extinguished and “the guarding operation continues.”
The fires broke out at night, and intervention teams from the neighboring states of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Setif and Bouira participated in confronting them, as well as from the capital.
Air ambulance helicopters also intervened, according to Civil Protection, which did not indicate any casualties.
At the end of July, the same areas witnessed massive fires that killed 34 people and destroyed vast areas of forests and fruit trees.
Northern and eastern Algeria annually witnesses forest fires , a phenomenon that worsens year after year due to the impact of climate change, which leads to drought and severe heat waves.
The Meteorological Service warned in a special bulletin of a heat wave in the northeastern regions of the country, including Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou, on Saturday and Sunday, where temperatures may reach 43 degrees.
Eastern Libya : The death toll from floods in the Libyan city of Derna has risen to 11,300
Washington : The death toll from floods in the city of Derna in eastern Libya has risen to 11,300 people, according to what the United Nations announced Saturday in an update on the toll.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 10,100 others were still missing in the stricken city. The update added that floods claimed the lives of 170 people elsewhere in eastern Libya outside Derna.
International aid began arriving on Saturday in Libya to support survivors of the floods in the city of Derna, while hopes of finding thousands of missing people alive are fading, six days after the disaster.
Storm Daniel struck on the night of Sunday and Monday in eastern Libya, accompanied by heavy rains, causing the collapse of two dams, causing the river that crosses the city to suddenly overflow, causing tsunami-sized water to flow, sweeping away everything in its path, including buildings, bridges, and roads, causing thousands of deaths.
The water left behind scenes of devastation, and large parts of the city from both sides of the river look as if a strong earthquake had struck them, as entire buildings were swept away by the water, others were half-destroyed, and cars crashed against the walls.
The Minister of Health in the government of eastern Libya, Othman Abdel Jalil, announced on Saturday evening that 3,252 deaths had been recorded, an increase of 86 deaths over the previous toll 24 hours earlier. He assured reporters in Derna that his ministry alone is authorized to issue death tolls, stressing that the high numbers reported by other sources are not Her credibility.
But the United Nations report stated that the death toll in Derna alone had risen to 11,300 dead, and noted that “these numbers are expected to rise as search and rescue crews work diligently to find survivors.”
The disaster caused the displacement of 40,000 people in northeastern Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration, which warned that the number is likely to be higher given the difficulty of reaching the most affected areas.
Relief organizations warned of the dangers posed by landmines and other unexploded ordnance, some of which the United Nations said were swept away by water and floods to other sites that had previously been declared free of mines.
The United Nations report indicated that Derna suffers from a severe problem with drinking water, and at least 55 children were poisoned because they drank contaminated water.
Hundreds of bodies
Maltese paramedics assisting Libyans in search operations at sea saw hundreds of bodies in a bay, according to what the newspaper “Time of Malta” reported, without specifying the exact location.
“There were probably 400, but it is difficult to say precisely,” Maltese team president Natalino Bezzina told the newspaper. He explained that it was difficult to reach the Gulf due to strong winds, but he confirmed that his team was able to help recover dozens of bodies.
For its part, a Libyan relief team reported that its members saw “perhaps 600 bodies” in the sea off the Umm al-Buraiqa area, about twenty kilometers from Derna, according to a video clip posted on social media, without specifying whether these were the same bodies that were found by Maltese paramedics. .
The government of eastern Libya reported that a Maltese paramedic died on Friday while participating in the operation to recover the body of a victim.
On Saturday, two planes, one Emirati and the other Iranian, landed at Benina Airport in Benghazi, the largest city in eastern Libya, and unloaded tons of aid that was loaded into trucks to be transported to the stricken area located 300 kilometers to the east.
Tons of aid, including medical equipment, also arrived from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to eastern Libya.
The Italian Embassy announced the arrival of a ship off the coast of Derna, transporting in particular tents, blankets, two search and rescue helicopters, and bulldozers.
Two French planes also landed in eastern Libya to “deploy a field hospital” in Derna, according to what the French ambassador to Libya, Mustafa Maharaj, said.
The World Health Organization announced the arrival of a plane to Benghazi carrying “29 tons of medical supplies” from its global logistics center in Dubai, “enough to help about 250,000 people.”
“Chaotic situation”
Manuel Carton, the medical coordinator of a team from Doctors Without Borders that arrived in Derna two days ago, spoke of a “chaotic” situation that prevents the proper conduct of the process of counting the victims and identifying them.
But the political situation and division between institutions hamper relief operations.
Libya has been mired in chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, and two governments are competing for power. The first is based in Tripoli in the west and is headed by Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba and is recognized by the United Nations, and the other is in the east of the country, which was struck by the storm, headed by Osama Hammad and is appointed by the House of Representatives. It is supported by the strongman in the East, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
After opening an investigation into the circumstances of the disaster, Libyan Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sur confirmed that the two dams that collapsed had been showing cracks since 1998.
However, the work that a Turkish company began in 2010 after years of delay was suspended after a few months following the 2011 revolution and has not been resumed since then.
The Public Prosecutor condemned the suspension of works, vowing to deal severely with those responsible for the disaster.