A man who lived close to one of two dams that broke during Storm Daniel and caused a big wave of water to flood the Libyan city of Derna last week said that the people living there had been asking for the dams to be fixed for many years.
“Abdelqader al-Omrani, a 48-year-old, told AFP news agency that two years ago, there were already leaks in the big dam, even though it was only halfway filled. ”
“We told the city government and asked them to fix things. ”
Mr Omrani talked to AFP from his hospital bed in the city of Benghazi. He was taken there after surviving the floods that caused the death of six of his family members.
He was able to avoid the water that was getting higher by running to his rooftop, then climbing onto a tree and up the side of a mountain.
He said that after the water went away from his town, there was nothing left – no buildings, no trees, only the mountain and no people.
I went through the end of the world, and I’m not exaggerating.
He said to AFP that the local authorities are now responsible for the deaths.
Date:
Libya flood: ‘We alerted Libyan authorities to damaged dams’ – survivor
