Libya flood: Derna mayor’s house burnt down in protests

LIBYA, Derna : The mayor’s home in the Libyan city of Derna has been burnt down, as hundreds of protesters demanded answers for last week’s catastrophic flood.

They gathered on Monday night at the city’s landmark Sahaba Mosque, many chanting for top officials in Libya’s eastern government to be sacked.

Derna’s whole city council has now been dismissed.

Internet and telephone access have also been shut down and journalists ordered to leave in a media crackdown.

More than 10,000 people are officially missing after two old and dilapidated dams burst, flooding the city.

Figures given for the number of people known to have died have varied widely but the UN says it has confirmed close to 4,000 deaths.

The UN now says one of its teams has been refused permission to enter Derna.

“We can confirm that search and rescue teams, emergency medical teams and UN colleagues who are already in Derna continue to operate,” Najwa Mekki, of the UN’s humanitarian body OCHA, told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

“However, a UN team was due to travel from Benghazi to Derna today but were not authorized to proceed,” she added.