Disaster Strikes Again In Libya

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30066, 26 February 1963, Page 13

Disaster Strikes Again In Libya

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) BARCE (Libya), February 25. British troops were expected today to go to the aid of homeless people in Tolemaide, another Libyan town hit by disaster in the last few days.

The British Army in Benghazi said sea erosion rather than an earthquake had caused a subsidence and damaged buildings in the ancient coastal town of Tolemaide, about 18 miles from earthquake-shattered Barce. British Army relief headquarters said Tolemaide was two feet under water. No casualties were reported and the homeless were being housed in tents and Roman ruins.

A British officer said the British Army might help to set up a tented camp for the homeless today. Fresh earth tremors yesterday shook the Barce area. The Libyan Prime Minister (Mr Mohammed bin Othman) has announced in Barce that

the stricken town will be rebuilt on a new site. Mr bin Othman said after a brief helicopter visit that planning for the new town would start immediately. The Barce District Commissioner (Abdul Ghani Saleh), said the ruins would be destroyed. “The old town is good tor nothing,” he said.

The Associated Press said a state of emergency had been declared in Barce with a curfew from 6.30 p.m. to 6.30 ajn. The gates of the town would be closed at night Libyan Army patrols would stand guard over the possessions of the thousands still homeless, with orders to shoot looters on sight. Rescue teams have recovered 262 bodies, about half of them children, from die shattered ruins of the ancient town. But British observers in the Benghazi area estimated 300 bodies were still buried in the rubble.

AT*, said hardly a home, shop or Government office was undamaged. The town’s water system had been destroyed and only a few power lines were working. A truck shuttle service was evacuating families.

British troops worked alongside Libyan Army units today combing the ruins. Homeless families who cannot find other accommodation

have been moved to a temporary tent town five miles from Barce. The temporary town, comprising 170 tents, includes an emergency hospital treating a stream of injured. But many families are still camped in the streets ot Barce, where they have moved their beds and set up temporary shelters. Aid is still pouring in for the homeless Benghazi airport is packed with planes carrying food, clothing and blenketa.