Tripoli: As many as 400 prison inmates escaped on Sunday following the riot between rival militias in Tripoli according to the Police.
“The detainees were able to force open the doors and leave” as fighting between rival militias raged near the prison of Ain Zara, police said in a statement, HT reported.
The media reports added that prison Guards failed to prevent the prisoners from escaping fearing for their own lives.
According to the reports, most of the detainees at the prison were convicted for common crimes or were supporters of former dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
As many as 39 people have been killed with nearly 100 people injured after violence broke out among rival militias on Monday in the south of Tripoli said health ministry.
Earlier on Sunday, at least rockets hit camp for displaced people from the Libyan city of Taourga who were forced into mass exile for supporting Kadhafi causing fresh casualties.
“Most of the families have left the camp fearing more rockets,” Khaled Omrane, a camp resident, told AFP.
Meanwhile, the Government of National Unity (GNA) on Sunday said it was declaring a state of emergency in the Libyan capital and its environs.