BENGHAZI BLAST POSSIBLE ACCIDENT: LIBYA MINISTERS

      Tripoli, 5 Rajab 1434/15 May 2013 (MINA) – A bomb blast outside a hospital in the Libyan city of Benghazi could have been an accident, ministers said Tuesday (14/5), as the health ministry gave a “definitive” casualty toll of three dead and 14 wounded.

      Ministers said they were now considering the possibility that the day-time blast on Monday outside Benghazi’s Al-Jala hospital was not a deliberate car bombing as previously thought.

      “Too early to draw any conclusions, but among the theories being looked at, there is the possibility that this accident was not premeditated and that the explosion was not intended for this location,” Justice Minister Salah al-Mirghani said.

      According to a preliminary report by the army, the car was not stationary when it exploded and it was transporting explosives used to make anti-tank mines, the Modern Ghana quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

      “The two people inside the car when it exploded have not yet been identified,” the justice minister said.

     The health ministry, meanwhile, said in a statement that it has reached a “definitive toll” of three dead and 14 others wounded in the explosion.

      On Monday, Libyan officials gave contradictory reports on the number of people killed.

      Deputy Interior Minister Abdallah Massoud pointed to “15 dead and at least 30 wounded,” while the health ministry said four people had died and six were wounded.

      Meanwhile, an official at the Benghazi police directorate, Tarak al-Kharaz, told Al-Ahrar television that 13 people had died and 41 more were wounded.

      Witnesses said children were among the casualties of Monday’s blast, which also wrecked cars and scattered debris around the area.

      On Tuesday, funerals and prayers were held for the victims attended by dozens of Benghazi residents angry at the lack of security in their city. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).