Sharjah24 – Reuters: A fire broke out at an oil facility fuel storage tank in southern Lebanon on Monday, sending a column of smoke into the air as firefighters doused the flames and a security source said the army was cooling nearby tanks to stop the blaze spreading.
There was no immediate official comment or reports of casualties at the Zahrani oil facility on the Mediterranean coast. The security source said the fire at a gasoline tank had yet to be brought under control.
The army was diverting traffic away from the facility, the security source said, adding that the area was sparsely populated.
The facility at Zahrani, around 8 km (5 miles) south of the city of Sidon, houses one of the country's main power stations.
Al Jadeed TV channel reported the Lebanese army was evacuating the area amid fears that the fire would spread and cause an explosion.
Lebanon, which is in the throes of a crippling economic meltdown, has been hit by a string of calamities including the catastrophic chemicals explosion at Beirut port last year which killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of the city.
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