20 killed, 450 injured in second wave of blasts in Lebanon

20 killed, 450 injured in second wave of blasts in Lebanon

BEIRUT: Explosions in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon were apparently a second wave of detonations of electronic devices, state media said on Wednesday.

The report said walkie-talkies and even solar equipment were targeted a day after hundreds of pagers blew up.

At least 20 people were killed and 450 were wounded, the Health Ministry said.

A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded.

Lebanon’s official news agency reported that solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and southern Lebanon, wounding at least one girl.

The new blasts hit a country thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesday’s pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too.

At least 12 people were killed, including two children, and about 2,800 people were wounded as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded wherever they happened to be — in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes.

Wednesday’s blasts caused fires, injuries and a state of hysteria because some of the devices were being carried by security personnel during the funeral ceremonies for the victims of the pager explosions on Tuesday.

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Explosions were heard in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several areas in the south and the Bekaa Valley.

Many were injured outside hospitals where the wounded from Tuesday’s bombings were being treated. Several of the wounded were transferred to Baalbek hospitals.

Some devices exploded with their carriers in front of the American University Hospital in Beirut.

Four cars containing devices exploded in the town of Aabbassiyeh in the south, three people were injured when a device exploded in a car in Jdeidet Marjeyoun, and parked cars exploded in Nabatieh because there were wireless devices in them.

Ambulances rushed everywhere, and Hezbollah supporters went out on motorcycles searching for victims after abandoning all their communication devices.

The Lebanese Army Command asked citizens “not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to make way for the arrival of medical teams.”

According to initial information, the devices that exploded on Wednesday are Icom V82 models, bought in the deal for pagers last spring.

Panic increased when information circulated on social media about the explosion of solar panels connected to internet devices. There were also claims that computers exploded.

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  A Hezbollah member in a video clip that showed a room with shrapnel damage, said: “This was because of the device’s battery. I removed it from the device and put it aside. Look what happened.”

Footage showed fires in residential apartments in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the south, and casualties during funeral ceremonies after their devices exploded.

The Axios website reported that “Israel blew up thousands of wireless communication devices used by Hezbollah elements in a second wave.”

In the first wave of bombings, it appeared that small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the thousands of pagers delivered to Hezbollah and then remotely detonated.

The reports of further electronic devices exploding suggested even greater infiltration of boobytraps into Lebanon’s supply chain.

It also deepens concerns over the attacks in which hundreds of devices exploded in public areas, often with many bystanders, with no certainty of who was holding the rigged devices.

20 killed, 450 injured in second wave of blasts in Lebanon