The disastrous flooding that killed more than 11,000 people has fostered national solidarity among Libyans, long governed by opposing powers.
FILE - Two men hug as people look for survivors in the flooded city of Derna, Libya, Wednesday, Sept.13, 2023. For many Libyans, the disastrous flooding that killed more than 11,000 people have fostered a sense of unity. The collective grief has morphed into a rallying cry of national unity in a country blighted by 12 years of conflict and division.
An outpouring of support for the people of Derna followed. Residents from the nearby cities of Benghazi and Tobruk offered to put up the displaced. In Tripoli, some 1,450 kilometers west, a hospital said it would perform operations free of charge for any injured in the flood. “We have even seen some military commanders arrive from the Tripoli allied military coalition in Derna, showing support,” said Claudia Gazzini, a senior Libya analyst at International Crisis Group.
While young people and volunteers rushed to help, “there was a kind of confusion between the governments in the east and west” on what to do, said Ibrahim al-Sunwisi, a local journalist from the capital, Tripoli.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. As the storm approached, authorities told people — including those in vulnerable areas — to stay indoors.
Under pressure, Libya’s General Prosecutor al-Sediq al-Sour said Friday that prosecutors would open a file on the collapse of the two dams and investigate the authorities in the Derna, as well as past governments.
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