Libya AGO Detains Mayor Derna And Officials Related To Alleged Negligence That Causes Floods

Floods in Derna, Libya. (Derna Zoom via Twitter/@WxNB_)

The Mayor of Derna and a number of other officials were detained after allegedly being negligent and making mistakes regarding the breach of the dam that flooded the city two weeks ago, the Libyan Attorney General's Office said on Monday.

The AGO's office, based in the capital Tripoli, said it had issued an order to detain eight local officials regarding the breakdown of the dam due to the storm, causing swift currents and sweeping the surrounding area into the sea, causing thousands of people to die.

Those detained included the mayor and an official in charge of water resources, he said, without naming them.

Angry residents blamed authorities for the collapse of the dam, which was built to withstand seasonal rivers flowing through the city.

Last week, protesters burned the house of Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi. Authorities said the mayor and the entire city council were fired.

Thousands of people are confirmed to have died as a result of the flood and thousands are still missing, and the entire building was swept into the sea.

Meanwhile, the international rescue team continues efforts to find bodies from below the ruins and at cityports, hoping to find survivors is decreasing.

It is known that the 2007 contract to repair dams was never completed amid a civil war that began with a NATO-backed uprising to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Derna City until 2019 was controlled by fighters from a series of groups, including ISIS.