Floods swept away and washing bodies back onto the shores of eastern Libya faster than the devasted city of derna could bury them.
It was a struggle to even count them.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the coastal city alone, with thousands more still missing and likely to be added to the death toll.
Broken roads, failed communications networks, the legacy of years of civil conflict and the effects of climate change have all contributed to make Libya one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, said Elie Abouaoun, country director for Libya with the International Rescue Committee.
The eastern Libyan port city was destroyed beyond recognition when two dams burst on the Wadi Derna River during a storm this week, causing waves 23 feet high to rush through the town and into the sea.
A total of 5,300 people had been confirmed dead in the floods so far, the Ministry of the Interior of Libya’s eastern government said. But aid groups and officials have said that some 10,000 people are missing, also feared dead either beneath the wreckage of homes or lying somewhere in the floodwaters.
The staggering statistics only go so far in conveying the tragedy.
One father watched in disbelief as rescue workers pulled the limp body of his son from under rubble in Derna.
And for Libya there may be more chaos to come.
Officials in the coastal town of Tocra, to the west of Derna and east of Benghazi, warned Wednesday that a dam there could also collapse and cause similar scenes of destruction, the state-run Libyan News Agency reported. Officials urged nearby residents to leave immediately.
They will join many already in need of aid.