A Libyan court sentenced twelve individuals on Sunday who were previously held to have played a part in deadly floods in 2023. The floods were caused by two dams which collapsed and killed thousands in Libya.

The Derna Criminal Court heard cases against sixteen officials who managed the dams that collapsed last year, of which twelve were sentenced for mismanagement and negligence. In the statement released by the Attorney General’s office, it was shared that the prison sentences issued by the court range from nine years to twenty-six years. Four defendants were acquitted of all charges and were ordered to return money obtained from illegal gains.

In early September 2023, the Abu Mansur Dam and Al Bilad Dam broke outside of the city of Derna during the heavy rainfall of Storm Daniel. The catastrophe caused mass floods as the dams held 24 million cubic feet of water collectively. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the floods killed at least 4,000 and displaced at least 25,000, with thousands of individuals held to be missing. The flood caused as much as a third of housing in Derna to be damaged, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The dams, designed to protect the city from flash floods, were reportedly not properly maintained or repaired despite allocated funding, according to a 2021 state audit.

As this ruling was issued in Durna Criminal Court, it could be appealed to a higher court, and the sentences overturned.