Libya floods aftermath: Arrest orders for Derna mayor, 7 other officials

The prosecutor general of Libya on Monday (September 25) gave orders for the arrest of eight officials, which included the mayor of Derna, as part of his inquiry into the recent floods in which thousands were killed.

The flash flood, which according to witnesses appeared like a tsunami, broke two dams on September 10 after the area around the port city of Derna was lashed by a hurricane-strength storm.

The officials have been suspected of negligence and "bad management", said the prosecutor general's office in a statement, adding that they worked previously or currently in offices which are responsible for dam management and water resources.

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The official death toll due to floods crossed 3,800 on Saturday and international aid groups stated that 10,000 or more people are feared to be missing.

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After starting an investigation, Libya's prosecutor general Al-Seddik al-Sur said that there were cracks in the two dams, upstream from Derna, since 1998.

The repair work, which was started by a Turkish company in 2010, was suspended after some months when Libya's 2011 revolution flared. After this, the dam's repair work never resumed, said the prosecutor on September 16, as he vowed to firmly deal with those responsible.

Collapse of dams

In the disaster, the first dam which collapsed was the Abu Mansur dam, which is 13 kilometres (eight miles) from Derna and whose reservoir contained 22.5 million cubic metres (nearly 800 million cubic feet) of water.

The second dam which broke in the deluge was Al Biladm which had a capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres and was only a kilometre away from the coastal city.

The debris and flooding water swept through the normally dry riverbed or wadi which cuts through the city centre.

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A Yugoslav company had constructed both dams in the 1970s, "not to collect water but to protect Derna from floods", Sour stated earlier.

After Libya's 2011 revolution, the government allocated a budget every year to repair the two dams, however, the repair work was not undertaken by any of the successive governments, as per an official.

In a 2021 report prepared by the Libyan audit bureau, officials slammed "procrastination" on the resumption of repair work at the two dams.

(With inputs from agencies)

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