BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan authorities warned yesterday that diseases might break out in the eastern city of Benghazi due to imported meat left rotting for months in containers at the city’s closed commercial port.
Libya’s second-largest city has been a war zone for over a year with forces loyal to the official government based in the east fighting Islamist groups, part of chaos in the oil producer four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
Imported meat, vegetables and dairy products have been stored in containers in the port since it closed in November when fighting reached the central area.
The containers were never delivered to customers. Port workers stored part of the load in refrigerators but they stopped working due to daily electricity outages, officials said. The stench has become so bad that residents living outside the port area smell it.
“There is a large number of containers full of chicken, meat or other food,” said Awad al-Qowriri, a health official in Benghazi. Diseases will break out if the food is not destroyed, he said.
The fighting has disrupted wheat and food imports to the east, forcing importers to bring in food via Egypt or Tobruk, a small eastern port.
Some meat storage facilities in the city stopped working after power went off for 26 hours since Sunday, officials said.