Latest Libya government News

Left behind and grieving, survivors of Libya floods call for accountability

Sep. 20, 2023 07:51 AM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Abdel-Hamid al-Hassadi survived the devastating flooding in eastern Libya but he lost some 90 people from his extended family. The 23-year-old law graduate rushed upstairs along with his mother and his elder brother, as heavy rains lashed the city of Derna on...

Libyan leader says flooded city has been divided to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks

Sep. 19, 2023 09:52 AM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Authorities have divided Libya's flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks, the prime minister of Libya's eastern administration said Tuesday, a day after thousands of angry protesters demanded the city’s rapid...

UN warns disease outbreak in Libya's flooded east could spark 'a second devastating crisis'

Sep. 19, 2023 03:01 AM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Officials warned Monday that a disease outbreak in Libya's northeast, where floods have killed thousands, could create “a second devastating crisis” as adults and children fell ill from contaminated water. In a statement, the United Nations Support Mission...

Libya was mired in chaos and corruption. For years, warnings the Derna dams may burst went unheeded

Sep. 18, 2023 09:44 AM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — The warnings were clear but went unheeded. Experts had long said that floods posed a significant danger to two dams meant to protect nearly 90,000 people in the northeast of Libya. They repeatedly called for immediate maintenance to the two structures, located just...

Road collision kills 4 Greek rescue workers dispatched to flood-stricken Libya, health minister says

Sep. 17, 2023 17:32 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — Four Greek rescue workers dispatched to Libya following devastating flooding in the eastern city of Derna were killed in a road collision Sunday, Libya's health minister said. Some 11,300 people died when two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel last week...

For a divided Libya, disastrous floods have become a rallying cry for unity

Sep. 17, 2023 01:58 AM EDT

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Zahra el-Gerbi wasn't expecting much of a response to her online fundraiser, but she felt she had to do something after four of her relatives died in the flooding that decimated the eastern Libyan city of Derna. She put out a call for donations for those displaced by the...

Libya investigates dams' collapse after a devastating flood last weekend killed more than 11,000

Sep. 16, 2023 13:43 PM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan authorities have opened an investigation into the collapse of two dams that caused a devastating flood in a coastal city as rescue teams searched for bodies on Saturday, nearly a week after the deluge killed more than 11,000 people. It’s unclear how...

Searchers look for more than 10,000 missing in flooded Libyan city where death toll eclipsed 11,000

Sep. 15, 2023 14:17 PM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan authorities limited access to the flooded city of Derna on Friday to make it easier for searchers to dig through the mud and hollowed-out buildings for the more than 10,000 people still missing and presumed dead following a disaster that has already claimed more than...

What's behind the surge in migrant arrivals to Italy?

Sep. 15, 2023 12:46 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Thousands of migrants and refugees have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa this week after crossing the Mediterranean Sea on small unseaworthy boats from Tunisia, overwhelming local authorities and aid organizations. Scenes of chaos at an overcrowded...

They worked for years in Libya. Now an Egyptian village mourns scores of its men killed in flooding

Sep. 15, 2023 10:53 AM EDT

NAZLET EL-SHARIF, Egypt (AP) — The 42-year-old Egyptian farmer was watering his crops along the Nile River south of the capital of Cairo and scrolling on his mobile phone when he learned that two of his sons were dead. Ashraf Sadawy Abdel-Fattah saw a list on social media with...