A large explosion rocked a Palestinian camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre on Friday (December 10) night, injuring about a dozen people, according to rescue workers on scene and a Palestinian source inside the camp, Reuters reports.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported an unspecified number of deaths, but local media and civil defence workers on scene said there had been no fatalities.
A security source also said fatalities had not been recorded.
The NNA reported that the blast emanated from a Hamas weapons depot in the Burj al-Shemali camp and a judge had ordered security forces to launch an investigation.
A number of armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah Movement, hold effective control over roughly a dozen Palestinian camps in the country, which Lebanese authorities by custom do not enter.
Shehab News Agency, seen as close to Hamas, quoted a Palestinian source as saying the explosion was caused by the ignition of oxygen canisters stored for use in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The security source said the fire had since been brought under control.
