"The water came fast and we escaped to the roof. I was so afraid," he said, his voice loud and clear. Hassan is only seven years old, but, sitting next to his parents and siblings, he was determined to share his story.
"When we finally left, we had to walk through a lot of water," he said. "I tried to step on the mud only but sometimes there were bodies too. I saw many dead people and I was so scared the same could happen to us."
More than 11,000 people have been killed in the floods during which swathes of the eastern Libyan city of Derna vanished. Thousands more people remain missing, buried under layers of dried mud or drowned in the sea - with entire families sitting at the bottom of the Mediterranean in the cars they tried to escape in, according to rescue divers. About 900 buildings have been destroyed - a further 400 are buried under the thick mud that came rushing down the valley after two poorly maintained dams burst under the weight of rainwater.
This story is from the September 29, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the September 29, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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