Updated 7.40pm, adds details

Malta is to send a team from the civil protection department and the armed forces to Libya after Storm Daniel caused unprecedented flooding, leaving at least 2,300 dead.

In response to the devastation, Malta is to send a contingent of 73 officials to assist in the rescue operations.

The team will consist of 12 AFM officers including a medical team and 31 members of the CPD. They will be joined by another 30 soldiers on board the P61, which will leave Malta in the coming hours.

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said this was the third time in a few months that Malta was offering assistance to other countries going through a difficult time.

Entire neighbourhoods have been washed away in the port city of Derna, where two dams burst.

The flooding, caused by Storm Daniel, has shattered the coastal city, home to about 100,000 people, where multi-storey buildings on the riverbanks collapsed and houses and cars vanished in the raging waters.

While Libyan emergency services have reported the deaths of 2,300 people in Derna alone, a further 5,000 people are missing and a further 7,000 injured.

Among the death toll were three Red Crescent volunteers who died helping victims of the floods, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Tuesday.

"The situation in Derna is shocking and very dramatic," said Osama Ali of the Tripoli-based Rescue and Emergency Service. "We need more support to save lives because there are people still under the rubble and every minute counts."

The floods were caused by torrential rains from Storm Daniel, which hit Libya on Sunday after earlier lashing Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. 

Earlier this month, the CPD sent 20 officials to Greece to fight wildfires plaguing the country during the summer.

There, they battled blistering forest fires and rough terrain as a 45°C heatwave hit the country.