Kadhafi buried in secret as blast in Sirte claims 100 lives

Reuters/Youssef Boudlal

Former Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was buried overnight in a secret location, the National Transitional Council’s (NTC) military command announced Tuesday. And more than 100 people have been killed by a fuel tank explosion in his hometown, Sirte, a military commander said.

"There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded," NTC commander Leith Mohammed told the AFP news agency.

Human Rights Watch

The blast took place around midnight on Monday. 

Reuters news agency reports that two oil tanks exploded, but put the death toll at 50.

The explosion happened as a crowd of people waited near the fuel tank to fill up their cars and the fire was still raging Tuesday morning.

Some of the victims had returned to Sirte, the last bastion of resistance by Kadhafi loyalists, which fell on Thursday, to inspect the damage to their properties, Mohammed said.

An anonymous official in Misrata, where Kadhafi’s corpse was on show after in the city

after his death Thursday, confirmed reports that the deposed leader was buried at dawn in a secret location.

His son, Mutassim, and his defence minister Abou Bakr Younis Jaber were buried alongside him, the source told AFP.