A CAR bomb that exploded in the parking lot of a Benghazi hospital has killed at least 15 people and wounded 30, Libya's deputy interior minister says.

"Fifteen people have been killed and at least 30 were wounded in the explosion of a car bomb near the hospital," Abdullah Massoud said citing a preliminary toll.

Libyan security official Abdel-Salam al-Barghathi said the car was parked outside a bakery near the city's main hospital when the blast occurred and the fatalities included three children.

The attack in Libya's second city, cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, struck in the car park of al-Jala hospital, a security official said.