Protests erupt in flood-hit Libyan city

Derna, Libya – AFP

Hundreds of protesters rallied in Libya’s disaster-hit Derna on Monday, accusing the authorities of neglect after a huge flash flood devastated the coastal city and swept thousands to their deaths.

Demonstrators gathered outside the city’s grand mosque and chanted slogans against the parliament in east Libya and its leader Aguilah Saleh.

“The people want parliament to fall”, “Aguila is the enemy of God”, “The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain” and “Thieves and betrayers must hang”, they shouted.

A statement read on behalf of the protesters urged “a speedy investigation and legal action against those responsible for the disaster”.

They also demanded a United Nations office in Derna and the start of “the city’s reconstruction, plus compensation for affected residents” and a probe into the current city council and previous budgets.

“Those who survived from the city, in what’s left of the city, against the ones who brought death and destruction to the city,” posted analyst Anas el-Gomati on X, formerly Twitter, under pictures of the destruction.

Some protesters marched on a house reportedly owned by Derna’s unpopular mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi and set it on fire, according to images shared on social networks and by Libyan media.

Al-Masar television reported that the head of the eastern-based government, Oussama Hamad, had dissolved Derna council and ordered an investigation into it.