The Chinese Embassy in Libya confirmed on Wednesday that a Chinese engineer was killed in Libya 's second largest city of Benghazi.

The victim, an employee of a Chinese construction company, was first abducted from a work site along with two of his colleagues and was later found shot. He died later in hospital, a source with the company told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The two colleagues were later released.

Benghazi has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence and become a major extremist base in North Africa following the violent overthrow of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi.