Muammar Gaddafi was killed by a bullet that may have been fired by one of his supporters after rebel fighters tried to take him alive, Libya's transitional prime minister says.
Mahmoud Jibril said crossfire broke out between revolutionary forces and supporters of the ousted leader after he was captured and bundled into a truck in his hometown of Sirte last night, CNN reports.
"When the vehicle started moving, it was caught in crossfire between Gaddafi fighters and the revolutionaries, and he was shot in the head," Jibril told reporters.
Libya's ambassador to the United States, Ali Aujali, told reporters the National Transitional Council and the Libyan people had wanted the 69-year-old to be captured alive to answer for his crimes.
But he died in the vehicle before reaching a hospital in Misrata.
In one video from the scene of his capture, a voice can be heard shouting, "No, no, we want him alive, we want him alive."
VIDEO: 60 Minutes interview with Gaddafi
Video broadcast on Arabic satellite networks shows a bloodied Gaddafi being hauled alive onto the back of a vehicle, after reportedly being dragged down the street by fighters parading their catch.
The fighters found the fallen dictator hiding in a sewage pipe when the National Transitional Council overran the town. Despite brandishing a golden gun, he did not resist arrest.
The 69-year-old reportedly begged fighters not to shoot him, saying "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!".
VIDEO: Colonel Gaddafi dead
Images of Gaddafi's bloodied corpse — and that of his son, who was also killed in the assault on the town — have been published by international media, including the
Daily Mail.
Last night's demise of the hated dictator, who ruled his oil-rich North African nation with an iron rod for close on 42 years, sparked a spontaneous outpouring of joy and celebratory gunfire in streets across Libya.
"We announce to the world that Gaddafi has died in the custody of the revolution," National Transitional Council (NTC) spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga said in the eastern city of Benghazi.
(Read more: Gaddafi marched through street)
News of Gaddafi's death came as new regime troops overran the last redoubt of his loyalists in Sirte, bringing to an end a two-month siege.
Medics said at least three NTC fighters were killed and 30 wounded in Thursday's fighting in Sirte, after 18 were killed and around 180 wounded over the previous two days.
Fifty pro-Gaddafi fighters were killed and 150 taken prisoner, including three women, said NTC commander Leith. There was no independent confirmation of the toll.
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