A devastating tragedy gripped the flood-hit city of Derna when three Greek rescuers and three Libyan family members perished in a horrific road collision. The rescuers were en route to the city on a bus from the eastern city of Benghazi when the calamity occurred on a grim Sunday. Their vehicle disastrously collided with the car that was carrying the family.
The wreckage resulted in two other passengers in the car and eight in the bus going through significant injuries, as reported by one of the Libyan officials. The shocking incident has inevitably led to the launching of an investigation to unearth the causal factors that led to the fatal accident.
Othman Abdeljalil, the Health Minister for the administration that governs eastern Libya, indicated to press members that the death toll had reached four. However, there was an inconsistency in reported figures as the Greece’s armed forces commented on three confirmed deaths with two more missing.
Libya’s current divisive political landscape has the nation split between two central governments, each vying for control. The existing seat of power is the UN-backed administration based in the capital, Tripoli, while Benghazi operates under an Egyptian-supported authority.
Greek authorities addressed the tragedy and confirmed the intended journey of their bus was cut abruptly short due to the fatal collision with the incoming vehicle. Greek officials reported the loss of three lives from Greece’s humanitarian mission while two were still unaccounted for. They confessed the exact circumstances leading to the ruinous crash remain a mystery at this moment. An investigation probing deeper into the accident is ongoing, working in tandem with Libyan authorities to ascertain the raw truth behind the incident.
A source from the diplomatic corps shared with the Greek news site Kathimerini, disclosing that along with the Greek rescuers, the team also comprised three interpreters, the 16-member team was heading to join other international forces from countries such as France and Italy already present on the ground.
The overall consequences of Derna’s storm a week prior has been catastrophic. The rupture of two dams instigated by the powerful storm wreaked havoc in the city, taking the lives of approximately 11,300 individuals according to the UN, and leaving more than 10,000 officially missing as revealed by the UN’s Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.