Lebanon pager blasts: A shocking video has surfaced on social media platforms, capturing the terrifying moment when a pager exploded at a vegetable market in Beirut. The CCTV footage, reportedly from Lebanese capital Beirut, shows people going about their business at the market, when suddenly a low-intensity blast occurs close to a man buying vegetables from a vendor.
The man, who looks to be in his late 40s- early 50s, falls to the ground due to the impact of the blast as people look on in bewilderment, while some scamper for cover.
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This is a developing story, and all information is preliminary, with numbers and info subject to change.
Roughly an hour ago, Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus.
Initial reports from Lebanon… pic.twitter.com/pWpDePcFUv
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 17, 2024
On Tuesday, in what Hezbollah termed as the “biggest security breach” in its nearly year-long war with Israel, thousands of encrypted pagers used by the groups cadres for communication, exploded within an hour, resulting in injuries to over 1,000 people, including fighters and medics of the militia group which rules Lebanon.
A Reuters report, quoting a Hezbollah official said detonation of the pagers, which took place at around 3:45 p.m. local time (1345 GMT), was the “biggest security breach” the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel, adding the wave of blasts lasted around an hour after the initial detonations.
In a statement issued later in the day, Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of at least three people, including two of its fighters. The third person killed was a girl, it said, adding that an investigation was being conducted into the causes of the blasts.
One of the fighters killed was the son of a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese parliament, Reuters reported.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, suffered a minor injury when a pager exploded, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported. “Amani has a superficial injury and is currently under observation in a hospital,” it said.
Another CCTV clip showed what appeared to be a small handheld device placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was paying spontaneously exploding.
Exploding pagers and other communication devices in #Lebanon among #Hezbollah members today. Recall the public reporting that #Israel has infiltrated the Hezbollah communication networks and that Hezbollah had switched to pagers and couriers after cell phones were banned. pic.twitter.com/AGGVYhE2lC
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) September 17, 2024
The pagers which exploded, were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months. Many of the injured suffered critical wounds to their face, eyes, and limbs and have been hospitalised, the Reuters report said.
Lebanese internal security forces said a number of wireless communication devices were detonated across Lebanon, especially in Beirut’s southern suburbs, leading to injuries.
(With inputs from Reuters)
