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Huge fire breaks out at oil facility near Lebanon power plant
A major fire broke out on Monday at an oil facility in southern Lebanon close to one of the country's main power plants, local media reported.
A giant gasoline tanker in the coastal village of Zahrani was ablaze, state-run National News Agency reported, adding that the cause was not immediately clear.
Fire engines rushed to the scene to fight the blaze. No injuries were reported.
Thick black smoke billowed over the area from the Zahrani Oil Installation, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Beirut.
Police blocked the main highway linking Beirut with southern Lebanon that passes through Zahrani.
Videos of the fire inside a gasoline storage container quickly circulated on social media.
Al Zahrani power plant: one big tank is on fire with no further details yet. The army is evacuating the area. #Lebanon
— Luna Safwan - لونا صفوان (@LunaSafwan) October 11, 2021
pic.twitter.com/9VH51GUop5
The oil facility is close to one of Lebanon’s main power stations, which had stopped working two days ago due to a fuel shortage.
Lebanon's ongoing electricity crisis has exacerbated a crippling economic and financial woes that plunged three-quarters of the population into poverty and devalued the Lebanese pound by almost 90 percent.