Beirut (Al-Ittihad)
The Lebanese army announced yesterday that specialized units had detonated “suspicious” communications devices in several areas of the country, and called on residents to stay away from the explosion sites and report any suspicious object.
This comes against the backdrop of the killing of 37 people and the injury of more than 3,250, including 300 in critical condition, on Tuesday and Wednesday, as a result of a wave of explosions that struck wireless communication devices of the “Pager” and “Icom” types in several areas in Lebanon.
The army command said in a statement that “specialized army units are detonating suspicious pagers and communication devices in various areas.”
She called on residents to stay away from the explosion sites, report any suspicious device or object and not approach it.
Earlier yesterday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Lebanon banned companies operating at Rafic Hariri Airport in Beirut from transporting any pager or walkie-talkie device on board their aircraft.
Yesterday, the Lebanese authorities announced that the death toll from the bombings had risen to 25, bringing the total number since the pager bombings on Tuesday to 37.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said in a press conference that the death toll from Wednesday’s ICOM device explosions had risen to 25 dead and 608 wounded, including 61 in critical condition in intensive care.
As for the “Bager” bombings, Al-Abyad reported that the number of victims reached 12 dead and 2,323 wounded, including 1,343 in moderate or serious condition.
He reported that 955 surgeries were performed on those injured in Tuesday’s bombings, and 226 cases are still in intensive care.
In this context, the Director-General of the World Health Organization said yesterday that the explosion of wireless communication devices led to serious disruptions in the country’s already fragile health sector.
“These incidents have caused serious disruption to Lebanon’s already fragile health sector,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference, adding that the organization had distributed blood bags and medical supplies in the country.
“The entire health system has been put under extreme pressure very, very quickly,” Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said at the same briefing.
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