our josh letterman has more on the efforts to recover >> reporter: along libya's mediterraneanen coast, utter devastation, in a war-wracked region unprepared to respond severe flooding leaving in its wake an unthinkable loss of life and with some 10,000 people missing fears the death toll will grow far higher in eastern libya, bodies strewn on the streets bit dozens, covered by blankets. cars piled on top of each other. residents and aid workers navigating knee-deep muddy water and neighborhoods that no longer exist. a quarter of the town was wiped out. >> thousands of people have lost their lives. thousands of people have lost their homes, and thousands of families are stranded or lost. >> reporter: in the hardest-hit area, the health system has collapsed. ambulance officials say what functioning hospitals remain are now sorting grounds for the bodies arriving by the hundreds. the culprit, mediterranean stor daniel which burst two dams on a river that runs right through the city of some 90,000 people the waves of water swept buildings and people right into the mediterranean sea. a dis

. >> josh letterman is standing by at doha international airport. what's the latest? >> reporter: hey, savannah. good morning. a qatari plane flying those released prisoners is on a two-hour flight to doha after leaving iran. a senior diplomat briefed on the exchange tells me on board are two relatives of the americans. after a brief stop in doha, they will begin the journey home. a year's long nightmare appears to be becoming to an end, expected to be freed. the americans expected to spend just a few hours on the ground in qatar before being flown to the u.s. and starting the long road to rovery. -- recovery. for the families, the release couldn't come quickly enough. >> all of our families have been destroyed. >> the prisoned were both arrested in 2018. iran accused all three of espionage and locked them up. the two other americans have not been identified. the delicate deal took years to negotiate. two diplomats tell nbc news the iranians and americans never came face to face. in exchange, the biden administration releasing five iranian prisoners and unfreezing $6

nbc news foreign correspondent josh letterman is following this story for us.e know about where things stand right now as the sun sets in libya? >> reporter: well, chris, according to authorities on the ground there in libya, the health system in the area has now collapsed. the few remaining functional hospitals in the derna area are now essentially sorting grounds for the bodies coming in by the hundreds. you mentioned that death toll, we have been seeing in the last hours the death toll cease increase by the thousands. part of the reason it's difficult to get a handle ons scope of the disaster right now is a lot of bodies according to local officials are buried under rubble or were swept out into the mediterranean sea when the floodwaters descended on this area. i want you to hear from an official from the red cross and red crescent society who talked about what they're seeing on the ground. >> huge in the thousands, but what we can confirm now thousands of people have lost their lives, thousands of people have lost their homes, and thousands of families are

josh letterman is following the story. >> reporter: for five americans locked up for years in iran, freedom at last. first, boarding a charter plane in tehran. the plane is now finally on the ground they are out of iran and on the way home huge mi huge smiles when they walked off the plane in qatar three of the prisoners, dual iranian citizens the others had asked for privacy and have not been identify namazi, who was arrested on false espionage charges saying in a statement for almost eight years i have been dreaming of this day adding that he can't wait to get to an apple store. i am dying to find out what gadgets now exist. the biden administration down playing the release possibly leading to more problems between one of america's biggest enemies. the prisoner swap is controversial. the u.s. and iran both exchanging five prisoners, but the biden administration going further, additionally unlocking $6 billion in iranian oil money, frozen by u.s. sanctions the white house says iran can only use the money for things like food and medicine with u.s. officials approving each transaction, but

and let's get to josh letterman with the very latest. us about where things stand? >> reporter: we are in that tragic state of the disaster, just as soon as authorities feel like they have some handle on the number of people that have died, that number increases sometimes by hundreds or even more than 1,000. so we're seeing various death tolls from different officials and the different government authorities that rule parts of libya ranging from a little 2002, and now more than 5200 according to an official. and the number expected to climb far higher as some of the missing are loektsded. according to the health minister, one of the biggest challenges in figuring out the scope of the disaster is the fact that lot of bodies are buried either under the rubble or actually been washed out into the mediterranean sea. i want you to hear from a representative from the red cross and red crescent who spoken to the u.n. about what they are seeing on the ground. watch. >> it might reaches 2 thousands. but what we can confirm now, that thousands hav

. >>> to doha where josh letterman is standing by. do we have any more information about when they'll be heading home? >> very soon, ryan. we are told that they're not expected to spend very long on the ground here in qatar. really the only time they're going to spend here is for the quick medical checks that ali mentioned are taking place right now and then they will be boarding the aircraft for the final leg of the journey back to washington where they'll then have the opportunity to undergo much more substantial evaluations. this trip to the u.s. will really be the first time that they are able to speak in person with these u.s. officials who have flown from the white house from washington here to greet them. remember, on that two-hour or so flight from tehran to here in doha, there were no american officials on board. there were iranians and there were qataris including the qatar ambassador. even though they knew they were headed towards freedom this is going to be the first time they'll be able to hear about everything that was i