Fresh explosions targeting walkie talkies in Lebanon have killed at least 14 people and injured 450 others.
Thousands of pagers exploded in a synchronised attack, after users received a message they believed had come from militant group Hezbollah.
Hear more about Lebanon’s walkie talkies explosion on today’s headlines from The Briefing podcast:
At least one of the explosions occurred near a funeral organized for individuals killed the day before. Eye witnesses say multiple Hezbollah members then frantically removed batteries from their walkie talkies that had not exploded.
Dr Elias Warrak told the BBC it was “the worst day of [his] life as a physician”
“I believe the number of casualties and the type of damage that has been done is humongous,” Warrak said.
Lebanon’s communications ministry said the IC-V82 radios were a discontinued model made by Japanese firm ICOM. The devices were not supplied by a recognized agent and had not been vetted by the security services, the ministry said.
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Israel has yet to comment on or claim responsibility for either of the blasts.
However, its defence minister said yesterday it was entering a “new phase” of war focused on its border with Lebanon.
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