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Flood strengthens Libya's national fabric, volunteers say

The apprentice dressmakers in Tripoli put their training on hold to help distressed survivors of the flash flood in Libya's east
— Tripoli (AFP)

About a dozen women hunch over sewing machines in Libya's capital, urgently making clothes for the living, and shrouds for the dead, two weeks after a huge flood devastated the eastern city of Derna.

In the war-battered north African country that has long been divided between two rival governments, the tragedy that killed thousands has sparked a nationwide sense of solidarity.

"Our centre was already helping needy families, so you can imagine our mobilisation when it involves a disaster of this magnitude," said Mohamed Kamour, the director of the centre that trains women to become dressmakers.

The International Organization for Migration said more than 43,000 people have been uprooted from the disaster zone

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