Three Killed In Fire And Explosion At Libyan Naval Academy

A fire, followed by an explosion at an ammunition warehouse at a naval academy in western Libya, killed three people, including two officers, a Libyan spokesman said.

It was unclear what caused the overnight blaze at the academy in the town of Janzur, about 14 miles west of the capital of Tripoli, said Masoud Abdal Samad, the spokesman for the Libyan navy.

Mr Samad said the dead included Brigadier General Ahmed Ayoub, the head of the academy, and Brigadier General Salem Abu Salah, who ran the naval college.

The third person who died has not been identified. Four others were wounded in the incident.

Video footage of the incident online shows firefighters and ambulances rushing to the site where a building is engulfed in flames.

Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew and killed the country’s longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The oil-rich country is now ruled by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country’s east.

Eastern-backed forces had fought a months-long offensive to capture Tripoli but the campaign ended in failure last year.