In Libya, the results of the judicial investigation into the Derna disaster were made public mid-week. Monster floods devastated a large part of the city in northeastern Libya on September 10 and 11 and left 4,540 dead, according to the latest count.
1 min
The 25 experts are unanimous, said Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sour. The dams which failed in Derna last September were fragile. It was negligence that led to the disaster, he summarized. It could have been avoided if the recommendations made since 2003 to maintain these dams and build a third had been implemented.
The day after the disaster, the Libyan prosecutor’s office refused an international investigation, believing that the Libyan justice system could handle it. Sixteen personalities were implicated and fourteen were imprisoned, including the mayor of Derna and the leaders of the water management authority and the Derna dams department. They did not provide proof that they were not responsible, said Al-Siddiq Al-Sour, before concluding that all officials in charge of dams across the country since 2003 were responsible for this disaster at varying degrees.
According to the latest official count, the floods which destroyed a large part of the city of Derna left 4,540 dead, Libyans and foreigners.
Read alsoFloods in Libya: in Derna, ruins and silence