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Storm Daniel devastates Libya, as Morocco death toll rises

Storm Daniel devastates eastern Libya with thousands feared dead, as Morocco quake death toll rises
MENA
8 min read
12 September, 2023
Natural disasters have ravaged North African countries in recent days, with Storm Daniel wreaking havoc in eastern Libya and Friday's Marrakech-Safi earthquake devastating many villages and towns in Morocco's Atlas Mountains.
North Africa has been devastated by two natural disasters in the forms of the Marrakesh-Safi earthquake and Storm Daniel, which have both claimed thousands of lives [Getty]

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The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Tuesday that it believes that thousands could be dead or missing in eastern Libya after tropical cyclone Storm Daniel hit the country on Sunday, causing catastrophic damage in the region, notably in the city of Derna.

The country's health ministry stated that 3,000 people have been killed by the natural disaster which swept Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece earlier, while the IRFC said at least "10,000 people are missing" so far.

Moreover, three Red Cross volunteers are said to be killed in Libya, according to the NGO's officials.

International aid has begun to trickle in, chiefly from Italy and the United States.

Meanwhile, Moroccan earthquake survivors continue to reel from the calamitous effects of Friday's 6.8-magnitude earthquake which hit villages and towns south of Marrakech on Friday.

Search-and-rescue teams are still continuing their efforts in the hopes of finding more survivors or retrieving further bodies in the remote Atlas Mountains, where the death toll has now climbed to 2,901 people.