Turkey sends rescue teams to Libya as death toll from floods surpass 5,000

Turkey says it has sent three planes carrying search and rescue teams and humanitarian to Libya following heavy floods that swept the eastern part of the country, killing over 5,000 people.

The Turkish Defense Ministry which disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said, “We continue to deliver search and rescue teams and aid supplies to the friendly and brotherly country Libya.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed solidarity early Tuesday with Libya.

“Türkiye stands with the Libyan people,” Erdogan said on the social media platform X, which was formerly known as Twitter.

Over 5,000 people were killed, and 10,000 others went missing in the Libyan city of Derna after heavy floods swept the eastern part of the country on Sunday, said Libya’s eastern-based Interior Ministry on Tuesday.

The floods were caused by a Mediterranean storm that made landfall in Libya on Sunday.

The storm also caused widespread damage to infrastructure and property.