Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster
Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster
Four more officials of the Derna Municipal Council have been arrested for 'bad management' by eastern Libyan authorities in the wake of the floods that killed thousands earlier this month.
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The flood that hit Libya has left thousands dead and missing [Getty]
Libya's prosecutor general has on Friday ordered the arrest of four more officials, bringing to 12 the number held as part of an inquiry into this month's flood that killed thousands.
Flooding caused by hurricane-strength Storm Daniel tore through eastern Libya on September 10, leaving at least 3,893 people dead and thousands more missing.
The seaside city of Derna was the worst-hit in the flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami. It burst through two dams and washed entire neighbourhoods into the Mediterranean.
The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested for suspected "bad management of the administrative and financial missions which were incumbent upon them", said a statement issued overnight Thursday-Friday by the prosecutor general's office in Tripoli, western Libya.
On Monday the office ordered the arrest of eight officials, including Derna's mayor who was sacked after the flood.
Libya's prosecutor general Al-Seddik al-Sour belongs to the internationally recognised government in the country's west. A rival administration in the flood-stricken east, is backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The eastern government has said it plans to host an international donors' conference in Benghazi on October 10 to focus on the reconstruction of flood-ravaged areas, but its failure to involve the Tripoli government has drawn mounting criticism from donors.
Libya has been wracked by division since a popular uprising toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
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