Large fire breaks out at oil facility in crisis-hit Lebanon

Firefighters have contained a large blaze at an oil facility in Lebanon, which is already in the grip of a severe energy crisis.

The fire erupted in a petrol tank at the Zahrani Oil Installation, 50km (30 miles) south of Beirut, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.

No casualties have been reported.

The facility is close to one of Lebanon's two biggest power plants, which both had to shut down two days ago because of a shortage of fuel.

The plants received emergency deliveries of gas oil from the Lebanese army on Sunday night to help them restart operations.

That returned the state electricity supply to the level before the blackout - only about one or two hours a day, with people depending on private generators to keep the lights on at other times.

An economic collapse has left Lebanon dangerously short of fuel as well as other basic necessities, such as medicine, electricity and even drinking water.