The tourist added, “Pollution of drinking water due to its mixing with sewage has caused cases of gastrointestinal diseases, and to date, sporadic cases are recorded from time to time.”
According to the latest figures reported in the media, “155 cases of gastroenteritis were recorded in Derna, most of them children,” following the floods caused by Hurricane Daniel, which struck the eastern region last week.
According to the director of the National Center for Disease Control in Libya, “the concerned groups will be vaccinated against tetanus, polio, measles and hepatitis.”
On the other hand, he states that “the bodies of victims of a natural disaster or the misconduct of survivors are not the cause of water pollution, contrary to popular belief.”
In a statement issued on Monday, the UN Support Mission in Libya noted that “local authorities, relief agencies and the WHO team are all concerned about the risk of disease spreading, particularly through contaminated water and water shortages.”
According to the United Nations report, “nearly 300,000 children face increased risks of diarrhea, cholera, dehydration, and malnutrition,” according to the American New York Times.
For his part, the spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent, Tawfiq Shukri, believes that “the disaster was beyond the capacity and capabilities of the Libyan state and organizations, so there was a lack of coordination in the beginning. But now in the field, the situation is improving and the parties involved in the crisis have begun to take on their roles and responsibilities.”
He continues his statement to Sky News Arabia, explaining that “every new day is better than the previous one. The confusion that occurred at the beginning is very natural, given the number of deaths, the number of missing people, the state of shock that the citizens went through, and the horrific scene in the city.”
To avoid further outbreaks of disease, managing the dead has become an urgent task, as dozens of bodies are washed up by the sea every day or recovered from the rubble of flood-ravaged neighborhoods. That’s why Shukri says, “The bodies are buried in temporary mass graves after identifying their details and taking some photos because there is no place to store them in light of the large number of dead.”
On September 10, Derna, a coastal city with a population of 100,000 people located in the east of the country, was hit hard by Storm Daniel, causing the deaths of 3,351 people, according to the latest interim official report published on Tuesday evening by the Minister of Health in the Eastern Region. The collapses did not leave a trace. The mud left behind only the ruins of buildings and roads, turning the city upside down.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration also announced on Thursday, September 21, that more than 43,000 people were displaced after the deadly floods.
