Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured in Beirut, according to semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has urged citizens who possess pagers to discard them and warned hospitals to be on “high alert.”
The explosions affected several areas in Lebanon, particularly the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces.
NNA reported that “hacked” pager devices exploded in the towns of Ali Al-Nahri and Riyaq in Lebanon’s central Beqaa valley, resulting in a significant number of injuries. The locations are Hezbollah strongholds.
The Israeli military, which has engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza last October, said it would not be commenting on the incident.
Health workers across Lebanon were asked to report urgently to work given the “large number of injured people being transferred to hospitals” following the pager explosions, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Officials also called for people to donate blood in anticipation of increased need.
Videos circulating on social media and news agencies show explosions in various locations that appear to be powerful.
In one CCTV video, a man can be seen picking out fruit in a supermarket when an explosion tears his bag to shreds. Bystanders can be seen running away as they hear the explosion, while the man drops to the ground clutching his lower abdomen. After several seconds, he can be heard groaning in pain.
This is a developing story. More details soon…