The Attorney General’s Office reported today that Derna Criminal Court convicted twelve defendants for the failure of Derna’s dams in the 2023 Storm Daniel disaster that led to x of deaths and massive destruction to the city. Storm Daniel had reached Libya on September 9, causing severe flooding the next day after two dams upstream from Derna collapsed. Libyan engineers had warned of “vulnerabilities” of the two dams that were not being addressed following flood damage in 1986. At 1:12 a.m., the Water Resources Ministry reassured residents under curfew that all dams in Derna had been inspected and were in good condition. In fact, the dams had already collapsed at 2:40 and 2:50 am respectively and the communications network in Derna was disrupted.
