DERNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan authorities opened an investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused devastating flooding in a coastal city as rescuers searched for bodies Saturday, nearly a week after the deluge killed more than 11,000 people.
The heavy rains caused by Mediterranean storm Daniel caused Deadly floods in eastern Libya Last weekend. The floods overflowed two dams, causing a wall of water several meters high in the center of Derna, destroying entire neighborhoods and dragging people into the sea.
More than 10,000 people are missing, according to the Libyan Red Crescent. Six days later, searchers are still digging through the mud and hollow buildings, looking for bodies and possible survivors. The Red Crescent has so far confirmed 11,300 deaths.
Claire Nicolet, who heads the emergency department for the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said rescuers found “many bodies” on Friday and were still searching.
“It was a large number…Unfortunately, the sea is still discharging many bodies,” he told The Associated Press.
He said major relief efforts were still needed, including urgent psychological support for those who lost their families. He said burying the bodies remains a major challenge, despite some progress in coordinating search and rescue efforts and distributing aid.
Authorities and aid groups have expressed concern about the spread of waterborne diseases and the transfer of explosive devices from Libya’s recent conflicts.
Haider al-Saeih, director of Libya’s disease control center, said in televised comments on Saturday that at least 150 people had suffered diarrhea after drinking contaminated water in Derna. He urged residents to drink only bottled water, which is being sent as part of relief efforts.
Libya’s attorney general, al-Sediq al-Sour, said prosecutors would investigate the collapse of the two dams, which were built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds. He said prosecutors would investigate local city authorities as well as previous governments.
“I assure citizens that whoever made mistakes or negligence, prosecutors will certainly take firm action, file a criminal case against him and send him to trial,” he said at a press conference in Derna on Friday night.
It is unclear how such an investigation can be carried out in the North African country, which descended into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For most of For the past decade, Libya has been divided between rival administrations, one in the east, the other in the west, each backed by powerful militias and international backers.
One result has been the neglect of crucial infrastructure, even as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and serious.
ABDULLAH DOMA via Getty Images
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, said an investigation could pose “a unique challenge” to judicial authorities as it could lead to the highest ranks of leadership in eastern and western Libya.
Since 2014, eastern Libya has been under the control of General Khalifa Hifter and his self-styled Libyan National Army. A rival government, based in the capital Tripoli, controls most national funds and oversees infrastructure projects. None tolerate dissent.
“The key challenge to a thorough investigation is the protracted behavior of the Hifter coalition; its historic lack of overall accountability could obstruct the discovery of truths,” Harchaoui said.
Local city officials had warned the public about the approaching storm and last Saturday ordered residents to evacuate coastal areas of Derna, fearing a sea surge. But there was no warning about the damsthat collapsed early Monday morning while most residents were sleeping in their homes.
A 2021 state audit agency report said the two dams had not been maintained despite the allocation of more than $2 million for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.
In 2007, a Turkish company was hired to maintain the two dams and build another dam in the middle. The firm, Arsel Construction Company Ltd., 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 worked around the clock, searching for bodies and possible survivors in the city of 90,000 people.
Ayoub said his father and nephew died in Derna on Monday, a day after the family fled floods in the nearby town of Bayda. She said her mother and her sister ran up the stairs to the roof, but the others did not make it.
“I found the boy in the water next to his grandfather,” said Ayoub, who only gave his first name. “I’m wandering around and I still don’t believe what happened.”
Al-Sour, the lead prosecutor, asked residents who have missing relatives to appear before a forensic committee working on documenting and identifying recovered bodies.
“We ask citizens to cooperate and quickly go to the committee headquarters so that we can finish the work as soon 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 excavated buildings to find the more than 10,000 people still missing. Many bodies are believed to have been buried under rubble or washed into the Mediterranean Sea, they said.
The storm hit other areas of eastern Libya, including the cities 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.
Among the dead were dozens of foreigners, including people who had fled war and unrest elsewhere in the region. Others had come to Libya to work or were traveling in hopes of migrating to Europe. At least 74 men of a town in Egypt perished in the flood, as well as dozens of people who had traveled to Libya from war-torn Syria.
Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.
