MSF update on Libya's catastrophic floods

September 14th 2023- An MSF team arrived yesterday evening from Misrata to Tobruk, and is due to reach Derna today by road. Conditions are challenging as Derna has been split into two parts, east and west, by the flooding.

MSF is in close contact with the Libyan Red Crescent, which is the main aid actor at the moment in Derna, and will make donations of items that are urgently needed: 400 body bags for the deceased; 200 medical kits to treat the wounded (dressing kits: disinfectants, compresses, sutures, bandages); and casualty care kits for 250 patients (gloves, antibiotics, dressing, surgical masks).

According to our information and observations, local solidarity has already kicked in as usual in this kind of disaster. Given the scale of the disaster, we expect that medical facilities will have been damaged and that there will be needs in restoring access to care for those who remain on site or have been displaced by the disaster - who number 30,000, according to initial estimates.