Turkey had sent three planes carrying search and rescue teams and humanitarian aid to Libya after heavy floods swept the eastern part of the country, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

“We continue to deliver search and rescue teams and aid supplies to the friendly and brotherly country Libya,” the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed solidarity early Tuesday with Libya.

“Türkiye stands with the Libyan people,” Erdogan said on the social media platform X, which was formerly known as Twitter.

A total of 3,060 people were killed, and 5,200 others went missing in the Libyan city of Derna after heavy floods swept the eastern part of the country on Sunday, said Libya’s eastern-based Interior Ministry on Tuesday.

The floods were caused by a Mediterranean storm that made landfall in Libya on Sunday.

The storm also caused widespread damage to infrastructure and property.

NAN