Storm-Ravaged Derna Residents Bid Last Farewell to Their Dead in Mass Graves
(AWP) - Nearly 1000 people were buried in a mass grave outside Libya’s Derna, where they were killed in Storm Daniel that left thousands killed or missing, swept nearly a quarter of the ill-fated city and caused immeasurable losses.
Workers from health agencies clad in protective clothing have gathered in the burial site in an area outside the city to observe health conditions as they dug hundreds of graves in the open desert spot.
A correspondent on the site told the Arab World Press (AWP) that a third mass grave was dug after two have been totally full.
In the third mass grave, more than 950 bodies have been laid to rest. After 500 more bodies have been recovered on Friday, they will also be buried in the same manner on Saturday.
Rashid Abdel-Hadi Younes, a local resident of Derna, said the matter could take months to recover and bury all bodies of victims.
“We lost our friends and loved ones. Doctors, scientists, lawyers, judges and university professors have all died. Derna has become empty of all professionals. Entire families and clans have been lost. Fifty-two members of the same family were swallowed into the sea. It is a horrible catastrophe,” said Younes.
He added that the process could take a long time and sometimes up to three months.
“There are now vehicles, machines and foreigners. It would take a lot of work.”