Residents and rescuers in a destroyed Libyan city Derna struggling to cope thousands of corpses decompose under the rubbleafter a flood destroyed buildings and swept people out to sea.

World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid groups have called on Libyan authorities to stop burying flood victims in mass graves, saying it could cause long-term heartache to families or cause a health risk if they are near water.

The UN report states that currently more than 1000 people were buried. That’s what has happened since Libya, a country divided by a decade of conflict and political chaos, was hit by heavy rain on Sunday that caused two dams to burst.

Thousands of people died and thousands more are missing.

“Bodies are scattered on the streets, they return to shore and are buried under collapsed buildings and debris. In just two hours, one of my colleagues counted more than 200 bodies on the beach near Derna,” Bilal Sabloo, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representative for Africa, told a news conference in Geneva.

Today they have already recovered five “and a half” bodies, laments one of the rescuers, just in this corner of Derna beach.

It is impossible to explain the scale of this disaster. #DernaFlood #Libya pic.twitter.com/xpEpb5HGhv

— Patricia Simon (@patriciasimon) September 15, 2023

This was stated by Ibrahim al-Arabi, the minister of health of the western government of Libya, based in Tripoli. Reuters that he is confident that the groundwater is contaminated with water mixed with corpses, dead animals, waste and chemicals. “We urge people not to approach Derna’s wells.”he claimed.

Mohammad al-Kabisi, director of Wahda Hospital in Derna, said the field hospital treats people with chronic diseases who need regular care. He said there are concerns that spread waterborne diseases but so far no cholera has been registered.

Districts of Derna, the central point of destruction in eastern Libya. They were devastated when the dams broke. over the city, and the flood, which destroyed the usually dry riverbed, leveled entire residential areas while families slept.

The International Organization for Migration mission in Libya said more than 5,000 people were killed. In addition, 3,922 deaths were reported in hospitals and other institutions. more than 38,640 people were displaced in the region.

Authorities say the real death toll could be much higher.

On the streets of #Derna Hundreds of bodies covered with blankets wait to be identified #Libya 🇱🇾 pic.twitter.com/eYTnMpMVaw

— Emmanuel Rosales (@journalero) September 13, 2023

“We should be afraid of the epidemic,” said Nouri Mohamed, 60, at a bakery offering free bread. “There are still bodies underground… Now there are corpses that are starting to smell bad– he said.

The UN health agency, along with the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, called for better burial arrangements.

“We urge authorities in communities affected by the tragedy not to rush into mass burials or cremations,” Kazunobu Kojima, a medical specialist for biosafety and biosecurity at the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said in a statement.

Reuters