UPDATE 2 - At least 9 killed, thousands injured after mass pager explosion in Lebanon

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS, EDITS THROUGH

By Wassim Saifuldine

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least nine people, including a child, were killed in a mass explosion of wireless communication devices known as pagers in different areas in Lebanon, Health Minister Firas Al-Abiad said on Tuesday.

Some 2,750 other people were also injured, including 200 in critical condition, in an initial toll, he added at a press conference in Beirut.

The minister told Anadolu early Tuesday that hundreds of people were injured in the mass device explosions across Lebanon.

Lebanese media suggested that the devices exploded after an Israeli breach of the communication system.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least two members were killed and many others injured in the mass explosion.

“At approximately 3:30 PM (1:30 PM GMT) on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, several pager devices used by various members of Hezbollah units and institutions exploded,” the group said in a statement.

The group held Israel fully responsible for the wireless explosions and vowed “just retaliation from unexpected quarters” to Tel Aviv.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions in Lebanon.

Early Tuesday, Topaz Luk, a close adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hinted in a post on X that Israel was behind the explosions of the wireless radio devices throughout Lebanon. He later deleted the post.

Netanyahu’s office, however, issued a statement distancing the prime minister from his adviser’s post.

The Lebanese Health Ministry earlier urged all citizens who own the pager communication devices to immediately dispose of them.

The mass explosion came amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,200 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio and Rania Abu Shamala