LIBYA’S chief prosecutor said today that he had ordered the arrest of eight officials as part of his investigation into the collapse of two dams earlier this month that left thousands of people dead.

The dams outside the city of Derna broke up on September 11 after being overwhelmed by Storm Daniel, which caused heavy rain across eastern Libya. 

When the resulting deluge of water hit the city, it destroyed entire neighbourhoods and swept thousands of people out to sea.

Up to 20,000 people may have died in the disaster, government officials and aid agencies have said. 

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 4,000 deaths have been registered, but the head of Libya’s Red Crescent has previously said that 11,300 lives were lost. 

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 9,000 people are still missing.

Search teams say that thousands of bodies are probably still buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings or lost in the Mediterranean Sea.

The office of General Prosecutor al-Sidiq al-Sour said in a statement that prosecutors had questioned seven former and current officials of the Water Resources Authority and the Dams Management Authority  on Sunday over allegations that mismanagement, negligence and mistakes contributed to the disaster.

Derna Mayor Abdel-Moneim al-Ghaithi, who was sacked after the disaster, was also questioned, the statement said.

Prosecutors ordered the eight to be jailed pending the outcome of the investigation, Mr Sour’s office added.

A report by a state-run audit agency said in 2021 that the two dams had not received maintenance despite more than $2 million (£1.6m) being allocated for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.

Repairs were were reportedly scheduled, but the company contracted to do the work pulled out because of the civil war that began in 2010, prompting a devastating Nato assault on the country.

Since 2015, eastern Libya has been under the control of the so-called Libyan National Army, but a rival government in Tripoli controls most national funds.