Dozens of walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday, a security source told
CNN, one day after blasts targeting the pagers of Hezbollah members injured thousands.
Preliminary information suggested that there were between 15 and 20 explosions in southern suburbs of Beirut, and a further 15 to 20 blasts in southern Lebanon, the source said.
At least nine people were killed and more than 300 injured in Wednesday’s wave of explosions, according to the country’s health ministry.
“The Army Command asks citizens not to gather in areas witnessing security incidents to allow the arrival of medical teams,” the Lebanese Army warned citizens in a post on X.
A witness who was at a Hezbollah funeral in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday described to CNN the chaos as walkie-talkies appeared to explode at around 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) on Wednesday.
The witness, who cannot be named for security reasons, told CNN that a loud bang went off, followed by screaming. They said that the man whose wireless device exploded was covered in blood and his hands had been blown off.
Photographs meanwhile showed walkie-talkie devices that had been ripped apart during the explosions.