BEIRUT — A huge fire broke out on Monday at a fuel storage tank of an oil facility in southern Lebanon, causing the loss of about 250,000 liters of fuel, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad announced that the fire at the al-Zahrani oil facility was caused by a technical error in the transport of fuel.

The Lebanese army evacuated the area while firefighters rushed to the oil facility to extinguish the fire and stop it from spreading to other tanks and residential areas, said the NNA.

Lebanon continues to suffer from shortage of fuel caused by an economic crisis, with its currency having lost more than 90 percent of its value.

The fire came two days after the two main power stations in al-Zahrani and Deir Ammar were forced to stop their operation as they ran out of fuel. — Agencies