LONDON--Libya is seeking foreign assistance after a missile
caused a storage tank containing petroleum fuel to catch fire at a
complex near the Tripoli airport, the state-oil company said
Monday.
The news comes after escalating violence led to the evacuation
of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli on Saturday.
"The government has requested international assistance and
contacted several [foreign] states asking if they were willing to
send planes and teams specializing in fire extinguishing," Libya's
state-run National Oil Co. said on its Facebook account.
A tank containing 6 million liters of petrol caught fire late
Sunday after being hit by a Grad missile, as rival militia fought
for the control of Tripoli airport, the NOC said, confirming
information from oil and security officials.
The complex where the storage tank is located contains 90
million liters of fuel and cooking gas, hence there is a risk of a
huge explosion should the fire spread, an oil official said
earlier.
Libya's interior ministry, which showed pictures of fire
brigades trying to put out the fire on its Facebook page, said it
was asking residents to leave the area.
The news comes as Libya's health ministry said Sunday the death
toll in Tripoli and neighboring cities had risen to 97 after two
weeks of fighting, the worst since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi in
2011.
Write to Benoît Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
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