'Enormous' toll in Libyan disaster

Rescuers have found more than 2,000 bodies as of yesterday in the wreckage of a Libyan city where floodwaters broke dams and washed away neighborhoods.

Officials fear the death toll could exceed 5,000 in the nation made vulnerable by years of turmoil and neglect of infrastructure.

The flooding caused significant infrastructure damage in the coastal city of Derna and displaced at least 30,000 people.

The damage is so extensive that the city is almost inaccessible for humanitarian aid workers.

A storm, Daniel, caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday, residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea.

Over half of the corpses found had been buried in mass graves.

The startling devastation pointed to the storm's intensity, but also Libya's vulnerability as a country divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west.

The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to Derna. Of seven roads leading to the city, only two are accessible from its south. Bridges over the river Derna have also collapsed.

"Derna was submerged by waves seven meters high that destroyed everything in their path," said Red Cross delegation head Yann Fridez. "The human toll is enormous."

"This is a disaster of every sense of the word," said a wailing survivor who lost 11 members of his family.

Rescuer Ahmed Abdalla said: "The situation is indescribable. Entire families dead. Some were washed away to the sea."