Twelve Libyan officials have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine to 27 years for their involvement in the catastrophic dam collapses that killed over 4,000 people in Derna last September.
The officials, who were responsible for managing water resources and maintaining the dams, were convicted of negligence, premeditated murder, and wasting public money, according to Reuters.
Three of the convicted officials were also ordered to repay money obtained through illicit means.
The dam failures caused entire neighborhoods in Derna to be swept away, and evacuation efforts were severely mishandled. Four other defendants were acquitted.
An international report released in January revealed that poor maintenance and governance, compounded by more than a decade of conflict in Libya, contributed to the disaster.
Following the tragedy, residents of Derna were outraged and burned down the mayor’s home, demanding answers. The entire city council was also dismissed.
It was reported that evacuation orders were poorly targeted, and there was inadequate provision for sheltering those evacuated.
Residents also reported that some people were moved from safer areas to more dangerous ones that later flooded.
The floodwaters, brought by Storm Daniel, inundated parts of Libya’s northeast coast with over 400mm of rain in just 24 hours—a dramatic increase from the usual 1.5mm for the entire month of September.
Libya’s National Meteorological Centre confirmed that the rainfall set a new record.
The disaster highlighted the ongoing instability in Libya since the ousting of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, with the country currently divided between two rival governments: one based in Tripoli and recognized by the UN, and the other in the east, led by warlord Gen Khalifa Haftar.
BBC
