Turkey to send three aid aircraft to Libya after floods kill at least 2,000

Turkey will send three aircraft to Libya to transport a rescue team and humanitarian aid in response to the massive flood caused by heavy rain that killed 2,000 people in the city of Derna.

Tuesday September 12 2023 04:46 pm

Reuters - Duvar English

Turkey is sending three aircraft to transport a rescue team and humanitarian aid to Libya, its foreign ministry said on Sep. 12, after a massive flood caused by heavy rain killed 2,000 people in the city of Derna.

The rescue team will comprise 168 personnel, two search and rescue vehicles, and two rescue boats, President Tayyip Erdogan later said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Libya’da meydana gelen sel felaketi nedeniyle hayatını kaybeden kardeşlerimize Allah’tan rahmet, yaralılara acil şifalar diliyorum. Türkiye, Libya halkının yanındadır.

AFAD’ımızın koordinasyonunda bu sabaha karşı Bingazi’ye iniş yapmak üzere 3 uçuş organize edilmiştir.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) September 11, 2023

The aircraft, also carrying hundreds of tents, generators, food, hygiene products and clothes, will depart for Benghazi in the morning, he said, adding that members of the gendarmerie and Turkey's disaster management agency (AFAD) would be among the rescuers.

At least 10,000 people were feared missing in Libya in floods caused by a huge storm that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern city of Derna.

More than 1,000 bodies have already been recovered in Derna alone and officials expected the death toll would be much higher, after Storm Daniel barrelled across the Mediterranean into a country divided and crumbling after over a decade of conflict.