♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. annocer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello i'm christi. this is the context. >> what you smell is the smell of horses and what you hear is the screams of women and children. christian: all his family is dead. he is asking me what i should do. no one knows what we should do right now. >> i already lost six people, we managed to take out three and we did not find the other three. we are searching for the bodies and did not find them. >> once a vibrant city on the mediterranean has been transformed into a mass grave.

the beaches that had children playing on them is finding the bodies of their families children and all. ♪ christian: the you and describe the flood in libya as a calamity of epic portions. thousands are being buried in mass graves. how much help is coming? international aid effort is split between libya and morocco. the politics split between two governments. the enemy's enemy is my friend kim meets putin and russia. what help is russia extending to korea oh-fer much-needed emissions. -- for much-needed emissions. and we discuss further on the

work of ukraine. good evening we turn to libya but i want to focus on a big development this evening here in the u.k. with the police investigation into the death of 10-year-old sara sharif whose body was found in the family home five weeks ago. her father, his wife, and his brother who left the country for pakistan before her death was reported and they are now back in the u.k. having flown in just a few minutes ago. they were not arrested as they boarded a plane in pakistan for dubai. the authorities said they traveled of their own free will. it will show you alive picture of police headquarters in -- where we expect the live tracking picture of a police at the airport. we are expecting a press conference at the police headquarters very shortly. we will take you to that. let's join our correspondent who is at the screen -- seen for us

this evening. bring us up-to-date with the development so far. reporter: their arrival will be of huge importance to the detectives. this comes after an international search for these three individuals. pakistani police say the three arrived of their own free will. these three individuals and her father, his wife, and the victim's uncle were also living -- all living with sorrow -- with sara and they let the country a day after her body had been found. and her body had sustained multiple injuries. so there will be a lot of questions for the three of them and there is also the question

of why they have returned now. the last we heard of them was in a video statement last week with her stepmother and father. she said the two of them at the time were in hiding in pakistan because they feared that pakistani police may torture or kill them. they said the family members were being harassed by police. all allegations the pakistani police have decide -- denied to the bbc. reporter: what we know about the children who were with them in pakistan. what happened after the grandfather was looking after them? reporter: these five siblings of sara's age 13 and one years old have been through a real ordeal. according to their father in pakistan, they arrived with the parents and the grandfather told the bbc the moment he saw them he said i do not care where you go but the children have to stay

with me. that is where they were found by the pakistani police. even though the grandfather requested they stay with him, these children had to then go to court. that in itself would have been an ordeal. they arrived in a police car with back in windows and they were carried into court, the youngest ones by family members while surrounded by armed police and media. and then the ruling was that they had to stay in a government care facility. how long and where they ultimately end up has not been said. at the authorities say they are in close contact to understand the next steps. christian: yeah i heard the interview with her grandfather and he said he wanted the family to come back and explained to the authorities what happened. the pressurhas been building on them in the previous days. and a lot of that is focused in pakistan. do you think that that is behind the decision to come back because it seems they came back of their own free will. reporter: it is hard to say.

the grandfather has insisted he was never in touch with them when they left. he did not provide to the bbc or anyone else any sort of motive for why they may want to leave, the biggest clue is in the video statement from last week. what -- one would imagine when they were talking about their fears that pakistani police may treat them badly, they tked about torture and the fear that they may kill them. allegations of being harassed. all allegations that pakistani police have denied. you would imagine that those fears may be part of the reason they decided to come back are their own free will. christian: ok we will leave that they are. we are watching live pictures of the police vans returning to the police headquarters. we would anticipate the family are in the vans having th been arrested to return to the u.k. to get to the airport this evening. and let me show you the pictures

from surrey headquarters. we are expecting a statement from the superintendent in the next few minutes. we will bring you that they met life. that is when he appears. the ancient port city of moderna is unique among libyan cities it sits on the northeast coast of libya. in a green valley between the mountains -- most of the city was built along a river that is drive for much of the dams built by the former yugoslavia in the 70's to protect the city from flooding. but sunday night 18 centimeters of rain was dumped by storm daniel. in just a few hours. it's art in a cascading flood first for upper dam burst and millions of cubic feeders of -- cubic feet of water went downstream and it overwhelmed the other dam which is close to the city. two dams crushed through the

city center. the before and after pictures are truly devastating. the red cross thinks at least 10,000 people, maybe 20,000 people are missing. any of them washed out to sea. let's speak to peter millet. he is a former british ambassador to libya. he was there between 2015 and 2018. good of you to join us. what can you tell us about the area? were you able to visit? >> i was not able to visit. in those years, there were quite -- it was a hotbed of extremism. there were some fighting -- was some fighting going on in that area so we were never able to visit for security reasons unfortunately. christian: if you stay with us, i want to bring in dr. at benghazi hospital where many of the victims of the floods were taken. it is good of you to join us

this evening. i know how busy you will be. what can you tell us about the situation today and how many i have received -- you have received from this area? >> thi is devastating. it is a tragedy. [no audio] christian: we have lost your sound, doctor. we will see if we can rejoin you in a moment. let's speak with peter millet. one of the problems with getting eight into the city is the fact that the government is split. we have two governors of libya and the two of them do not seem able or they are unwilling to negotiate with one another. how much of that is going to complicate the process? peter: it is unfortunate it will complicate the process. the libyan people themselves are coming together. there is a really strong sense of solidarity among libyans whom i have spoken to from the west,

east, and the south. they are shocked to disbelief about what they are seeing just as everybody is. they want as citizens to contribute to the relief effort. unfortunately, the two competing authorities probably lack the capacity to work together. there should be a joint operation liaising with the united nations and international community coordinating the relief effort and the latest news of them not working together is i have to say is not surprising but it is deeply disappointing. christian: it is remarkable this country is in such of a mess when you thing about deposits of oil and gas that are there. in some respects the west bears some responsibility for that and the way we left the country after the war. how willing do you think some of the western governments will be to supply aid? how dangerous would -- it be

for international agencies to go in? peter: i think they must be ready. this is a humanitarian disaster it is not a political issue. and after the 2011 west and other countries abandoned, that is a common belief, but that is not the case but there were many plans and programs to try to assist and modernize. i think it meant there was a lack of institutions and investment in infrastructure and like an investment in the capacity of institutions of people and ngos and so forth, now we see huge problems in responding to this tragedy. christian: let's see if we can make contact with the doctor again. he is the medical doctor at the benghazi hospital. can you hear me? >> yes i can. christian: ok let's hope the

audio line holds. i appreciated i know it is difficult at the moment. what can you tell us about the situation in the city tonight? >> things are still even worse right now. more bodies are coming, more corpses are being identified. people who were identified as missing are now identified as dead. an estimated about teen thousand are missing and most of them are soon to be dead because the flood, it is like a reverse tsunami. that is what happened bause of flooding has not taken away people into buildings where tens of people, you can see that -- libyan families are formed not just nuclear families with t couple in the house. one house has a lot of people with children, grandparents, children, son. most houses have 10-15 people and these houses were carried away by the flood. the country and the duty is facing a lot of devastating problems. not just from the -- the city is

facing a lot of devastating problems not just from the flood but the feed of the flood where people were carried away from the sea. and a lot of people cannot swim is in this type of city. the numbers are expected to exceed 20,000. it is a disaster it is probably the seven biggest disaster in 21st century. to put this into context, it is only underwhelmed by china's earthquake and the japanese tsunami because it is a huge disaster. people do not seem to appreciate the problem enough. i can tell you the numbers will keep going up. there are hundreds and thousands still -- very people calling telling us they are under the roof and they barely have enough oxygen. they have not had food for days there is no water, no connection, no electricity. people are left to die. they are waiting for us but we do not have much power. we did not have rescue teams we do not have the power to

actually be able to get these people out. we are using shovels to dig the ruins out so we could get the people out from under the ruins. tens of thousands of people have already died. and we cannot do anything about it but now we still have a chance to save the few hundred that are still left under the ruins. there are corpses -- christian: let's talk about the rescue effort. when i was in benghazi during the war that road is not a very good road at the best of times. it has been washed away some of it now by the flooding. there was a port fare, a small port they are, is that still operating? could they come in through the port rather than by the road? >> yeah only road that is available right now -- on the western side of that is unavailable. we cannot reach from there. the only available road is from don berg and batt road is crowded to say the least because people are coming in and out. the city has 300,000 people and

it lost at least 10% of its population. most of the people are just wanting to get out. these thousands of people are trying to get out where thousands of more trying to get into save the other people. so it is a small road and you can stay for eight hours and he was ill be on the road. the problem is great. -- you would still be on the road. the problem is great. christian: what do you need from the international community? we need rescue teams, dogs, helicopters, professional people who know what they are doing and how to get people out. christian: is a government doing enough to get the help to the people that they need it? >> we have never had such a catastrophe in our lives. we've never had an exposure to this year not prepared. we are underwhelmed. we are so underwhelmed. we don't have nothing we can barely save 100 let alone thousands. christian: and we just talked

about the road helmet -- how difficult it is but what are you preparing for? what do you think your hospital can take? it is a 300 mile journey? >> it is about 200 kilometers. yes. christian: it will be days before they can get people to you? >> not really able take half a day. about half a day. probably most of the cases, if it cannot wait we have people with the ruins with broken limbs and people that cannot even move anore because of their broken spines. i cannot really begin to describe how terrible the situation is until you see it. the pictures on the numbers are not enough. christian: are there staff in the hospital who have lost people and family members there? >> yes we have lost members of the army, doctors, and those from the third crescent. there are tends to say the least i am sure the numbers are

hundreds but we did not have actual confirmed numbers. christian: our sympathies to you and everyone there. we are wishing you the best of luck. hopefully your appearance tonight will reinforce for people just how serious the situation is. thank you for being with us. >> you're welcome. christian: also thank you to peter miller who served as the british ambassador in libya. you're watching bbc news and the u.k. and around the world. oh, let's we were going to go to a break, but here is inspector detective superintendent mark chapman of the seri police. he's about to give a press conference. >> the death of 10-year-old sara sharif following this is -- the discovery of her body on the 10th of august. this evening, around 7:45 p.m. three people were arrested in connection with this

investigation. at the airport. two men, age 41 years and 28 years and a woman age 29 years were arrested on suspicion of murder. after disembarking a flight from dubai. they are currently in custody and will be interviewed in court. sara's mother has been informed of this update and they stay with her and those affected by's her death -- by her death in this difficult time. this is been fast-moving, challenging and a complexing inquiry. we remain committed to conducting an -- a thorough investigation into her death. we will not comment further at this point and we will provide an update when we are able to do so. thank you. christian: a very brief statement from detective superintendent mark chapman they at the headquarters of the seri police. a little chaotic going into

that. apologies for that but he has just appeared after transferring the family from the airport earlier this evening. we show you the pictures of the vans as they made their way from the airport back to seri police headquarters. just as you heard from him, all three people who have been arrested, that is at --sara's father, her uncle, and her mother all being interviewed on suspicion of murder. thorough investigation will now continue. and of course, detective superintendenthapman extending his best wishes and condolences to her mother who they are keeping fully informed. we learned earlier today the family were coming back it was a bit of a surprise because there's been a lot of focus on where they had gone in pakistan. there's not been a lot of detail on where they been hiding, but because of the pressure that they have been under in pakistan, some coming from

within the family, they came back of their own free will. they flew back from pakistan to dubai. they were not arrested by pakistan police and then they boarded a connecting flight from dubai back to the airport today. they will now be interviewed under caution on suspicion of murder. let's speak to an individual who is watching that press conference. she is in the studio upstairs for us. looking at these live pictures today of them on their way back to the police headquarters is there more information you can glean as to why they came back today? >> it is not clear. as you referred, we know they came o their own free will. despite the fact that we are looking at these pictures, it looks like there has been an orderly process. we know that they flew to gatwick.

we knew that the pakistani said this was their decision and now we the these authorities trying -- drive them in an orderly way. this was not an easy process. as more than five weeks. since there was an international search of the three individuals. pakistani police were searching for them as well as interpol. but all that we heard from them were in a video statement last week where we found sara shari'' s father and stepmother appearing saying they were concerned about the situation in pakistan. a lot of it, a lot of the video statement focused on the harassment they alleged was -- [indiscernible] as well as their own fears for personal safety they feared police would torture or kill them. pakistani police have denied

back. we now see this as seri police said during the press conference the beginning of a thorough ross s. the fact they wanted -- process. the fact they wanted this to be a thorough investigation but this is been a very complex ross s. christian: and we have -- process. reporter: and we now have another reporter with those. what do we know about the process the transfer from gatwick airport and what will happen now? reporter: you are right this is been a long andomplex and ongoing investigation. i would say 4-5 weeks it is five weeks tomorrow that her body was found. there's been an extensive call -- from the british police and pakistani authorities to track down her father, stepmother and uncle. as our colleague was saying, it

is been entirely of their own relation that they came back this morning -- their own volition that they came back this morning. they were not arrested. they came back in their own will. and a lot of questions are about why now. three of them were -- we've been watching the live pictures of the police vans on the runway. the three of them taken into custody. we have had it confirmed as you heard a few moments ago from detective superintendent mark chapman all three have been arrested on suspicion of murder. he also told us that her mother, so there is a slightly complicated family set up which is that sarah's father has remarried and her both -- birthmother has been kept informed of every part of his inquiry. she is being supported by

officers and police here and thoughts remain with her. the three adults are in custody and they will be questioned as the night goes on. christian: so up until this point the family was in contact with the police up until this point? reporter: the extended family was in contact with the police. so her father and grandfather rated the property early this weekend they found her five siblings who remain in pakistan. they also questioned the two brothers for a considerable amount of time and we understand they raided a number of prophecies around the family home in pakistan. the authorities were in contact with the family but as far as we are aware, we have yet to have this confirmed, neither the veer -- british authorities were pakistani authorities ever caught up with them.

we do not know that for certain, but we've never been told that. and one would imagine had the police authorities of pakistan found them they would have been taken in for questioning. we can assume they were not ever found. we do not know why they came back at this moment, but it is interesting that the children, there are five children in pakistan they were taken into care impact is and yesterday. there was a court hearing and there's a big question now abou what happens to those children as well ages between one and 13. currently in the social services. they said it is their first priority and they are looked after our pretty -- properly and it will be interesting to see where the children end up. christian: thank you for that update. if you're joining us you're looking at pictures that were recorded in the last hour of the family.

being transferred to guilford to assert -- from guilford to the surrey police headquarters. and we have heard all three of them are under arrest and investigated under suspicion of murder. we will go to short break but when we come back we will narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.