At least one person has been killed and hundreds were wounded in Lebanon in a new wave of blasts related to communication devices that include smartphones, solar panels, walkie-talkies, and intercoms, the Health Ministry has said, a day after thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah detonated across the country.
Multiple explosions were reported across Lebanon on Wednesday, with Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reporting that pagers and “devices” exploded in Hezbollah strongholds in the east and south of Beirut.
The Iran-backed group’s Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, which it said were the result of walkie-talkies detonating.
Hezbollah’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, witnessed two explosions.
“There was a car that exploded just behind us. At the same time, there was an explosion at another place [nearby],” he said. “I’m currently in the middle of the street. There are a lot of ambulances, chaos everywhere.”
Hashem said several blasts took place simultaneously, similar to what happened on Tuesday.
“But this time, it was mostly walkie-talkies or radios [that exploded],” he said, adding that reports suggested that solar devices and car batteries also exploded. Lebanon’s official news agency reported that home solar energy systems exploded in several areas of Beirut.
In Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said a blast was reported in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital city.
“We are hearing a lot of ambulance activity in the area suggesting there may be casualties coming here or other hospitals nearby, possibly as a result of explosions within Beirut itself.”
The new round of explosions took place a day after pagers used by Hezbollah, a Lebanese Iran-backed group, exploded nearly simultaneously in several locations across Lebanon, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding around 2,800.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for Tuesday’s attacks.
