Libya, hit in the northeast by deadly floods, needs equipment to prevent a cholera epidemic, warns the UN.
Libya in humanitarian emergency after floods. The UN emergency chief said Friday that Libya needs health supplies to prevent a possible cholera outbreak among survivors.
“The priority areas are shelter, food, basic medical care due to the fear of cholera and the lack of drinking water,” Martin Griffiths listed at a United Nations briefing in Geneva.
The official acknowledged that we “still do not know the exact extent” of the humanitarian catastrophe hitting eastern Libya.
“The level of needs, the number of deaths, are still unknown”
“I think the problem for us in Libya is of course coordinating our efforts with the government and then with other authorities in the east of the country,” said Martin Griffiths, adding that “the level of needs, the number of dead, are still unknown”.
The relief efforts must deal with a country governed by two rival administrations: one in Tripoli, recognized by the UN and led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, the other in the East, affiliated with the camp of powerful Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
France sends a field hospital
While the Libyan Red Crescent for its part counts more than 11,000 dead and as many missing people, the international community is mobilizing to help the victims of the region of Derna, a town in the north-east ravaged by water after the passage of Cyclone Daniel and the failure of two dams.
A French plane carrying around forty rescuers and several tonnes of health equipment, including a field hospital, took off on Wednesday from the Istres military base (Bouches-du-Rhône).
The system includes an operating theater, a laboratory, a pharmacy and even a delivery room.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and many countries in the Middle East and North Africa have also promised to send aid. Foreign rescue teams are already at work looking for possible survivors or victims.
Source: BFM TV
