Libya requires more AID from the World immediately

 Libyan flood survivors weigh water shortages against landmine risk

Rescue teams assist in relief work in Libya's eastern city of Derna

 People were swept away by flooding in Libya's eastern city of Derna a week ago faced the dilemma on Sunday of whether to stay despite a lack of fresh water or flee through areas where landmines have been displaced by the torrents. Thousands of people are feared to have died after two dams above Derna broke on September 10, bring ing down residential blocks lining a usually dry river bed as people slept. Many bodies were washed out to sea and more than 1,000 have already been buried in mass graves, according to the UN.

Entire districts of Derna, with an estimated population of at least 120,000, were swept away or buried in mud. As per media report, at least 891 buildings had been destroyed in the city ,whose mayor has said 20,000 people may have died.

 

Another resident said peo ple were at a loss over what to do next. A report by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Libyan authorities had detected at least 55 children poisoned from drinking polluted water in Derna, where the homeless were surviving in makeshift  shelters, schools or packed into the houses of relatives or friends.

Floodwaters had shifted  landmines and other ordnance the left over from years of conflict posing an extra risk to the thousands of displaced people the move. Aid organisations have flown in emergency aid and some countries have sent supplies, although officials say much more is needed.