Beijing (ANTARA News/AFP) - More than 1,000 Chinese construction workers in Libya were forced to flee after gun-wielding robbers stormed their compound, stealing computers and luggage, the company and state media said Tuesday.

Beijing has warned its citizens not to visit the North African country and urged Chinese companies to take precautions as protesters overran several Libyan cities, threatening leader Moamer Kadhafi`s 41-year grip on power.

The looters raided Huafeng Company`s compound in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah on Sunday night, the Beijing News said, citing the Chinese embassy in Tripoli and a friend of one of the employees.

No one was injured in the attack, the report said.

The workers, clutching their passports, plane tickets, food and water, are walking to Tripoli, "several hundred kilometres" away, where they hope to catch a plane to China, the report said.

A company spokeswoman confirmed the workers were walking to Tripoli but said the distance was "not that long". She did not provide further details.

Huafeng, which is based in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, is involved in residential construction projects in Libya.

On Monday, some 500 Libyans looted a South Korean construction site west of Tripoli, injuring South Korean and Bangladeshi workers, Seoul`s foreign ministry said.

British energy giant BP was also on Monday making preparations to evacuate some of its staff from Libya amid escalating unrest in the country, a company spokesman told AFP.
(U.KR-PPT/H-AK/P003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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