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Clashes between militias backed by Libya’s rival governments have killed at least 32 people and wounded 159 more, according to the country’s health ministry.

The fighting in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, on Saturday was the worst there in two years and has raised fears the country could plunge back into full-blown war.

The health ministry said on Sunday that 32 people were killed in Saturday’s violence and 159 were injured, up from a ministry source’s previous estimate of 23 deaths and 87 injured.

Among the fatalities was Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos mocking militias and corruption. Baraka died after he was shot in his chest, said Malek Merset, a services spokesman.

Merset said emergency services were still trying to evacuate wounded people and civilians trapped in the fighting, which erupted overnight and continued into Saturday evening.

The health ministry said 140 people had been wounded while 64 families had to be evacuated from areas around the fighting. It said hospitals and medical centres in the capital were shelled, and ambulance teams were barred from evacuating civilians, in acts that “amount to war crimes”.

Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina reported a cautious calm in Tripoli on Saturday evening. “Things have calmed down since the fighting began. But people here still fear that Libya may be on the verge of a full-scale conflict,” he said from the Libyan capital. The standoff for power in Libya has pitted the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) under Abdul Hamid Dbeibah against a rival administration.