The general prosecutor in Libya ordered the remand of eight officials as part of the investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused the deadly floods on September 10; in Dernahis office announced today.

The mayor of Derna Abdulmonem al-Ghaitiwho was terminated along with the rest of the city council after the tragedy, Fris received from persons placed in temporary detention.

These eight faceswho hold or held positions of responsibility within the Directorate of Water Resources or the Directorate of Dam Management in Libya, are suspected of, among other things, “mismanagement” and “negligence”was clarified in the announcement issued by the prosecutor’s office.

THE storm Daniel hit her night of September 10 to 11 eastern Libya and mainly Dernaa city of 100,000 inhabitants on the shores of the Mediterranean, causing the collapse of two dams and a tsunami-sized flood that washed away everything in its path.

According to the latest official provisional count, the flood has claimed the lives of 3,868 people, while the fate of thousands more is still unknown.

Investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy

On September 18, hundreds of Derna residents demonstrated to hold the authorities accountable for the disaster.

Libyan Attorney General al-Sediq al-Sour had announced on September 15 that an investigation had begun into the circumstances of the tragedy. According to him, the management of dams in Libya had pointed out cracks in the two projects as early as 1998but no work was done to repair them.

In the context of the investigation, a contract was mainly examined, which had been concluded between the Libyan Water Service and a Turkish company for the maintenance of the two dams, and the payment in 2014 to the latter of “disproportionate amounts”, and this “even though (the Turkish company) had breached the commitments provided for in the contract,” according to the prosecutor’s statement.

In a November 2022 study, Libyan engineer and academic Abdel-Wanis Ashour warned of a disaster that threatened Dernaif the authorities did not proceed with maintenance work on the two dams.

Nevertheless this warning had no effectalthough Libya, which has Africa’s richest oil reserves, is not without means.