Hundreds of people turned against local authorities in the Libyan city of Derna, which was hit hard by Storm Daniel, on Monday. International news agencies write this. The crowd turned against, among others, Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern Libyan parliament, and Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, the now suspended mayor of Derna. Some protesters set his house on fire. It was the first major demonstration in Derna since the disaster occurred.
The demonstrators hold local authorities responsible for the high number of fatalities caused by the floods in Derna. The two dams in the city that broke through in 1998 were already bursting. However, authorities continued to neglect the dams and the money set aside for repairs was spent corruptly on other matters. Protesters called for an investigation into how the dam burst occurred.
There was also anger about the absence of a properly functioning flood warning system. The World Meteorological Organization, part of the United Nations, already expressed similar criticism last week. Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said the Libyan government could have prevented “most deaths” “if they had had a normally functioning meteorological service system.”
also look at this photo series about rescue operations and relief in Derna