A Chinese cargo plane filled with relief supplies has landed in Benghazi’s Benina Airport today amid ongoing international efforts to help victims of deadly floods that swept parts of Libya’s eastern region.
Commenting on ongoing foreign aid operations, Libya specialist Jalel Harchaoui, a researcher at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, noted that the number of cargo flights into Benghazi has been noticeably large.
The Government of National Unity announced on Sunday that more than 70 planes and eight ships carrying relief supplies have arrived since a storm and devastating floods hit eastern Libya on September 10.
A total of 24 countries have sent aid to help disaster victims in the North African country, said a statement by the government’s Emergency and Rapid Response Team.
One of these two dozen countries, the Netherlands has provided €2 million ($2.1 million) in food, medicine, shelter, and medical care support for flood victims.
The statement mentioned that Australia plans to provide $1 million in aid, while South Korea has earmarked $2 million for the UN’s humanitarian effort in Libya.
Italy sent a team of experts from the Italian Civil Protection Department, the Fire Brigade, the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which have already arrived in Derna on September 12.
Italian aid includes helicopters for search and rescue activities, earth moving equipment, 100 field tents, 1000 cots with sleeping bags, and teams specialized in various sectors.
Similarly, the UK deployed an emergency medical team led by health and sanitation experts from NGO UK-MED to conduct rapid medical assessments in disaster-affected areas.
Local relief efforts have also been quite extensive. The 603 Infantry Battalion of the Libyan National Army (LNA) has been carrying out search and rescue operations in Derna to locate thousands of missing victims. The LNA’s Air Force has been sending relief supplies to people in small towns and villages after the floods destroyed roads linking those towns and villages to the cities.
Nearly 4,000 people were killed in floods caused by Storm Daniel in Libya on Sept. 10, while more than 40,000 have been displaced, according to UN figures.