Lebanon says 37 killed, thousands injured in 2 waves of wireless device explosions

BEIRUT

The death toll from two waves of wireless communication device explosions in Lebanon rose to 37 and thousands were injured, Health Minister Firas Al-Abiad said on Thursday.

Thousands of pagers exploded in the capital Beirut and several areas across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 12 people, including two children, and injuring 2,323 others. A second way of device blasts killed 25 people and injured 608 others on Wednesday.

"The explosions showed the unity of the Lebanese people in all areas in the face of the incident," Al-Abiad told a press conference in Beirut.

He said hundreds of doctors and medics rushed to provide help to the victims of the blasts, adding that 287 injured people remained in intensive care units.

The health minister said that several Arab countries also offered medical aid to Lebanon following the explosions.

Lebanese group Hezbollah accused Israel of being behind the device explosions and vowed retaliation.

There has been no Israeli comment on the blasts, which came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar and Rania Abu Shamala