UN says death toll from Libya floods includes 400 migrants

A UN humanitarian office report said on Tuesday that some 400 migrants were killed in the floods that hit eastern Libya last week, citing hospital reports.

The report quoted the UN health agency, the World Health Organisation, as saying that 4,000 deaths had so far been reported in Libya by hospitals, including 400 migrants.

Thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants are temporarily based in Libya and many make the perilous Mediterranean crossing each year to flee poverty and conflict.

The International Organization for Migration had previously said that over 100,000 migrants lived in flood-hit areas, including more than 8,000 in the city of Derna. They are mostly from Chad, Egypt and Sudan, it said.

Reuters