Libyan prosecutor promises criminal trial for any neglect of collapsed dams

Libyan authorities have opened an investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused a devastating flood in a coastal city as rescue teams searched for bodies on Saturday, nearly a week after the deluge killed more than 11,000 people.

Heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding across eastern Libya last weekend. The floods overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water several meters high through the center of Derna, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea.

The torrent of water unleashed Sunday night hurtled down a seasonal riverbed that bisects Derna, washing multi-story buildings into the sea.

More than 10,000 people are missing, according to the Libyan Red Crescent. Six days on, searchers are still digging through mud and hollowed-out buildings, looking for bodies and possible survivors. The Red Crescent has confirmed 11,300 deaths so far.

Bodies washing ashore

Claire Nicolet, who heads the emergencies department of the Doctors Without Borders aid group, said rescuers found “a lot of bodies” on Friday and were still searching. “It was a big number … the sea is still ejecting lots of dead bodies, unfortunately,” she told The Associated Press.

Nicolet said massive aid efforts were still needed, including urgent psychological support for those who lost their families.

She said the burial of bodies is still a significant challenge, despite some progress in co-ordinating search-and-rescue efforts and the distribution of aid.

Authorities and aid groups have voiced concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases and the shifting of explosive ordnance from Libya’s recent conflicts.

Contaminated water

Haider al-Saeih, head of Libya’s Center for Combating Diseases, said in televised comments on Saturday that at least 150 people had suffered from diarrhea after drinking contaminated water in Derna. He urged residents to drink only bottled water, which is being shipped in as part of relief efforts.

Libyan Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sour said prosecutors would investigate the collapse of the two dams built in the 1970s and the allocation of maintenance funds. He said prosecutors would investigate local authorities in the city, as well as previous governments.

“I reassure citizens that whoever made mistakes or negligence, prosecutors will certainly take firm measures, file a criminal case against him, and send him to trial,” he told a news conference in Derna late Friday.

It’s unclear how such an investigation can be carried out in the North African country, which plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For most of the past decade, Libya has been split between rival administrations — one in the east, the other in the west — each backed by powerful militias and international patrons.

One result has been neglecting crucial infrastructure, even as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and severe.

Local officials in the city had warned the public about the coming storm, and last Saturday it ordered residents to evacuate coastal areas in Derna, fearing a surge from the sea. But there was no warning about the dams, which collapsed early Monday as most residents were asleep in their homes.

A report by a state-run audit agency in 2021 said the two dams had not been maintained despite the allocation of more than $2 million US for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.

Maintenance work over a decade ago

A Turkish firm was contracted in 2007 to carry out maintenance on the two dams and build another dam in between. The firm, Arsenal Construction Company Limited, said on its website that it completed its work in November 2012. It did not respond to an email seeking further comment.

Meanwhile, local and international rescue teams were working around the clock, searching for bodies and potential survivors in the city of 90,000 people.

Ayoub said his father and nephew died in Derna on Monday, a day after the family had fled flooding in the nearby town of Bayda. He said his mother and sister raced upstairs to the roof, but the others didn’t make it.

“I found the kid in the water next to his grandfather,” said Ayoub, who gave only his first name. “I am wandering around and I still don’t believe what happened.”

Al-Sour, the top prosecutor, called on residents who have missing relatives to report to a forensic committee that works on documenting and identifying retrieved bodies.

“We ask citizens to cooperate and quickly proceed to the committee’s headquarters so that we can finish the work as quickly as possible,” he said.

Libyan authorities have restricted access to the flooded city to make it easier for searchers to dig through the mud and hollowed-out buildings for the more than 10,000 people still missing. Many bodies were believed to have been buried under rubble or swept out into the Mediterranean Sea, they said.

The storm hit other areas in eastern Libya, including the towns of Bayda, Susa, Marj, and Shahatt. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the region and taken shelter in schools and other government buildings.

Dozens of foreigners were among those killed, including people who had fled war and unrest elsewhere in the region. Others had come to Libya to work or were traveling through in hopes of migrating to Europe.

At least 74 men from one village in Egypt perished in flood, as well as dozens of people who had traveled to Libya from war-torn Syria.