The prime minister of eastern Libya, Osama Hammad, said Monday that more than 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after floods hit eastern Libya on Sunday.
Most of the casualties were reported in the port city of Derna, according to the prime minister. Hammad said that in Derna the "entire neighborhoods were washed away by the floods."
The diplomat called on medical personnel and rescue teams across the country to offer aid to the hard-hit city. For his part, the country's deputy prime minister for the east, Ali al-Gatrani, appealed for international help via a local television channel.
Local authorities declared three days of mourning for the victims of the Mediterranean storm that made landfall in eastern Libya on Sunday.
Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah, the prime minister of the Tripoli-based National Unity Government, instructed relevant authorities on Sunday to remain on high alert and take measures to cope with the storm.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Libyan Red Crescent Society began providing urgent assistance to those affected by the disaster.
The oil-rich country has been divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west of the country's territory. Each administration is supported by armed groups and militiamen.