Massive flood in eastern Libya killed at least 2,000 people

Thousands more were missing...

According to Authorities in eastern Libya, at least 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain.

Ahmed Mismari, the spokesperson for the Libyan National Army (LNA) that controls eastern Libya, said in a news conference that the disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, "sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea".

Mismari put the number of missing at 5,000-6,000.

Earlier on Monday, the head of the Red Crescent aid group in the region had said Derna's death count was at 150 and expected to hit 250. Reuters could not immediately verify either figure.

Libya is politically divided between east and west and public services have crumbled since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that prompted years of conflict. The internationally recognised government in Tripoli does not control eastern areas.

In Tripoli, the three-person Presidential Council which functions as head of state in the divided country asked the international community to help. "We call on brotherly and friendly countries and international organizations to provide assistance," it said.

According to Osama Hamad, the head of a parallel eastern-based administration, more than 2,000 were dead and thousands more missing.

People were stranded on the roofs of their vehicles calling for help and waters washing away cars, Eastern Libya's Almostkbal TV broadcast footage showed.

"The missing are in the thousands, and the dead exceed 2,000," Osama Hamad told al-Masar TV. "Entire neighborhoods in Derna have disappeared, along with their residents ... swept away by water.