Libya arrests 8 officials linked to flood disaster

The dam burst on September 11 outside Derna, a coastal city in eastern Libya, after Hurricane Daniel hit the country. Aid agencies have put the death toll at between 4,000 and 11,000.

Libya arrests 8 officials linked to corruption case 1 — Derna city after the disaster. Photo: France24

Derna Mayor Abdel-Moneim al-Ghaithi, who was fired after the disaster, was also among those being questioned, according to a statement from the office of the Prosecutor General al-Sidiq al-Sour.

Prosecutors also ordered officials from the Water Resources Agency and the Dam Authority to be detained pending the completion of the investigation, the statement added.

They are now being questioned in connection with mismanagement, negligence and mistakes that contributed to the disaster. Prosecutors say the officials did not provide enough evidence to prove they acted responsibly before the disaster.

The dams were built by a construction company from the former Yugoslavia in the 1970s across the Wadi Derna valley.

The dams are intended to protect the city from flash floods. A Turkish company was also contracted in 2007 to carry out maintenance on the two dams.

A 2021 state audit report said the two dams had not been maintained despite being allocated more than $2 million for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.

Libya has long been in political turmoil since an uprising more than a decade ago that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Since then, the country has been divided between rival administrations in the east and west, complicating the situation on the ground and leaving critical infrastructure in a state of disrepair.

The oil-rich nation also experienced a civil war from 2014 to 2020, causing heavy damage to critical infrastructure.

Domestic experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm, including last year, about the need to maintain the dams.

Hoang Nam (according to France24, DW)

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