Libyan National Army Says Death Toll in Derna Flooding Rises to 4,120

Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
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Libyan National Army Says Death Toll in Derna Flooding Rises to 4,120

Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)

The Libyan National Army announced on Wednesday that the death toll from the devastating flooding in the city of Derna has climbed to 4,120.

LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said 56 corpses were retrieved on Monday and 35 on Tuesday, raising the toll.

Libya’s chief prosecutor said Monday he ordered the detention of eight current and former officials pending his investigation into the collapse of two dams earlier this month, a disaster that sent a wall of water several meters high through Derna.

The two dams outside the city broke up on Sep. 11 after they were overwhelmed by Storm Daniel, which caused heavy rain across eastern Libya.

The failure of the structures inundated as much as a quarter of the city, officials have said, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea.



Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
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Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP

Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on an Israeli bus in the occupied West Bank on Friday that wounded eight people, including four soldiers.

It was the latest violence to scar the territory as tensions run high 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The attacker, who Hamas identified in a statement as Samer Hussein, 46, was killed by Israeli troops shortly after opening fire toward the bus at a junction near the Israeli settlement of Ariel.

The military said four soldiers were lightly wounded. Paramedics said three people were critically wounded.

Attacks by Palestinian fighters on Israelis in the volatile territory have grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, as Palestinian deaths have also spiked.  

Israeli fire has killed 796 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, mostly in military raids on Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property have also increased.