Libya protesters set fire to mayor’s home in anger over Derna flood deaths

autotldr Bot , 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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Protests broke out in the Libyan city of Derna on Monday, with hundreds venting their anger against authorities and demanding accountability one week after a flood that killed thousands of residents and destroyed entire neighbourhoods.

Later in the evening, angry protesters set fire to the house of the man who was Derna’s mayor at the time of the flood, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, his office manager told Reuters.

Monday’s protest marks the first large demonstration since the flood, which swept through Derna when two dams in the hills outside the city failed during a powerful storm, unleashing a devastating torrent.

Mansour, a student taking part in the protest, said he wanted an urgent investigation into the collapse of the dams, which “made us lose thousands of our beloved people”.

But commentators have drawn attention to warnings given in advance, including an academic paper published last year by a hydrologist outlining the city’s vulnerability to floods and the urgent need to maintain the dams that protected it.

Derna is located in eastern Libya, a part of the country controlled by military commander Khalifa Haftar and overseen by a government established in parallel to the internationally recognised administration in Tripoli, in the west.

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