Lebanon’s public health minister Dr. Firass Abiad says 12 people died and thousands more were injured after pagers exploded simultaneously.
Twelve people were killed, including an eight-year-old girl, and thousands were injured when pagers being used by the Hezbollah organization simultaneously exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities.
Lebanon’s public health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad, said the pagers exploded in southern Beirut and several other parts of the country and thousands of people were taken to hospital.
What Happened On Tuesday?
It appears that thousands of pagers exploded, apparently over an hour, from 3:30 p.m. local time until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
One video on social media showed one of the pagers exploding in a man’s bag as he shopped at a fruit market.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported 2,800 people had been injured and eight killed, including a child.
The Lebanese government’s public health minister later amended the death toll to twelve.
Lebanon’s health ministry also advised people using pagers to avoid the devices.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Abiad said, “Most of the injuries appear to be to the face and especially to the eyes and also the hand with some amputations, whether it’s in the hands or the fingers, and some of them have injuries to their flank.”
“The vast majority of the people who are presenting to the emergency rooms are in civilian clothes, so it’s very difficult to discern whether they belong to a certain entity like Hezbollah or others,” he added.
Dr. Abiad said, “But we are seeing among them people who are old or people who are very young, like the child who unfortunately died… and there are some of them who are healthcare workers.”
Hezbollah confirming at least two of its members were killed, including a member of the Lebanese parliament.
Who Is Behind the Attack?
In a statement, Hezbollah said, “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians.”
They said Israel will, “for sure get its just punishment.”
Israel, however, has so far not commented on the attacks.
