Libya: Investigation into dam breach Archaeologists excavate Roman tombs in the Gaza Strip

Two weeks after serious flooding in Libya, sixteen people have been charged in connection with the breach of two dams. According to Monday’s indictment, representatives of regional and national authorities were responsible, among other things, for the maintenance of the country’s dams.

They include a former chairman of the water authority, the head of the Libyan dam authority and the now-suspended mayor of the particularly hard-hit city of Darna, Abdel Munim al-Ghaithi. He and seven other suspects were taken into custody.

Mayors and water and dam authorities in the picture

Prosecutor Al-Siddik al-Sur announced the investigation into the disaster a week and a half ago. This is intended to clarify how the two dams in the mountains near Darna could collapse. They broke on the night of September 11 after heavy rain during Storm Daniel over the North African country. Large parts of Darna were washed away.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 4,000 deaths have been identified so far and more than 8,000 are missing. The government’s emergency committee in the east estimated the number of deaths at 3,800 on Sunday.

Darna’s mayor, Al-Ghaithi, is accused of abusing his power and wasting money intended for the city’s reconstruction and development. Other water and dam authority defendants are accused of mishandling administrative and financial duties and negligence in disaster preparedness.

Military leadership likely limits reporting

At the same time, it became known that there are signs that the military leadership in Benghazi is restricting reporting from the region around the flooded coastal city of Darna.

According to the news channel Al Jazeera, citing local sources, foreign journalists are being prevented from traveling to the region. The ARD office in Cairo also confirms that, among other things, passes for local checkpoints will no longer be distributed.

The internet connection would also be partially interrupted. The military leadership in Benghazi – which controls the east of the country, where the flooded areas are located – attributes this to the damage caused by the storm. However, Tripoli-based internet provider Libya Telecom said there were many indications that the closure was intentional. The Libyan government, recognized by the international community, is based in Tripoli.

In conflict-ridden Libya, two weak, hostile governments in the west and east are vying for power. After the fall and death of former ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, a civil war broke out. No major battles have taken place since the summer of 2020. To this day, countless militias fight for power and resources in the oil-rich country.

(yam/sda/dpa)