Libyan officials: Around 20,000 feared dead after major flooding

As many as 20,000 people are feared to have died in floods in Libya, according to a local official.

Catastrophic floods devastated the east of the country on Sunday. Whole families were washed away and entire neighbourhoods disappeared.

The mayor of port city Derna told Saudi TV News station Al Arabiya he estimated 18,000 to 20,000 died when two dams burst, releasing a tsunami of water as people slept.

His figures are based on the number of communities destroyed by the flood water, he told the channel.

Unrecovered bodies remain under rubble or in the sea, increasing the risk of disease. Meanwhile, rival governments in Libya have requested international aid.

The UN has warned of the danger of disease from contaminated water in Libya.

"People need to drink and if they start to drink contaminated water, we could see a secondary wave of disease and even death if we do not manage to stop that in its tracks," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday.

The UN currently has people on the ground in Derna and is directing its existing stockpiles of food in the country to the area.

Laerke said: "We are rushing in all the aid we possibly can at the moment. It really is all hands-on deck. We are sending in a specialised relief team who is going to work with responders on the ground to help with the co-ordination of the lot of work that lies ahead."

Maltese AFM and CPD officials are currently on the ground in Libya to help in search-and-rescue efforts.

The contingent includes 12 armed forces officials and 31 civil protection department members, who traveledl to Libya on the P61 vessel.