Libya: Derna Flood Response Costs Lives

Beirut — Independent Investigation Needed; Prioritize Reconstruction

An independent inquiry is needed to review failings in Libyan authorities’ management of catastrophic flooding in eastern Libya in September 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The floods caused widespread destruction, with whole neighborhoods flushed away and thousands of people killed.

Despite flood warnings up to three days before the storm made landfall on September 9, officials in the coastal city of Derna issued conflicting…