Libya’s top prosecutor says he has opened an investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused a devastating flood in a coastal city.
“It was a big number ... the sea is still ejecting lots of dead bodies unfortunately,” she told The Associated Press.
Libya's General Prosecutor, al-Sediq al-Sour, said that 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 authorities in the city, as well as previous governments. Later on Saturday, a local television station reported that Derna's mayor, Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, was suspended pending an investigation into the disaster, according to a government decree dated Sept. 14.Since 2014, eastern Libya has been under the control of Gen. 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. Neither tolerates dissent.
A report by a state-run audit agency in 2021 said the two dams hadn't been maintained despite the allocation of more than $2 million for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.
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