Harare — The residence of the mayor of Libyan city Derna, has been set alight as hundreds of protesters sought an explanation for the disastrous flood that occurred last week, BBC reports.
Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, has become a focus of public rage. Residents claim that despite the fact that they believe officials must have known that heavy rains were on the way, they did not give them enough notice.
The protesters gathered on September 18, 2023 at the famous Sahaba Mosque in the city, with many yelling for the dismissal of senior figures in the eastern government of Libya. All members of Derna's city council have now been fired.
Despite denials from officials, residents claim that they were issued a warning to stay at home, rather than a call to evacuate.
Officially, more than 10,000 people are still unaccounted for after two old, crumbling dams collapsed, flooding the city. There are significant discrepancies in the number of deaths, but according to the UN, there are close to 4,000 confirmed deaths.
The UN said that one of its teams was denied entry to Derna.
"We can confirm that search and rescue teams, emergency medical teams and UN colleagues who are already in Derna continue to operate," Najwa Mekki, of the UN's humanitarian body OCHA, said.
A UN-recognised administration based in Tripoli and a government in the country's east, supported by warlord General Khalifa Haftar, currently rule Libya. The country has been torn apart by power struggles since the overthrow of long-time leader, late Muammar Gaddafi.
Haftar referred to the floods as a natural calamity, but many Libyans believe otherwise, claiming that the eastern government ignored the dams despite prior warnings about their flimsy condition.
Although up to 50% more rain descended on eastern Libya as a result of the climate crisis, scientists from the World Weather Attribution group remarked that the conflict in Libya and inadequate dam maintenance had turned the extreme weather into a humanitarian crisis.
On September 19, 2023, an official in the eastern Libya administration, said that all journalists had been asked to leave Derna and accused them of impeding the efforts of rescue crews. There has also been a shutdown of internet and telephone services.
