In Tuesday’s mass explosions of handheld pagers carried by Lebanese citizens across the country, the majority of the injuries were to the face, eyes, hands, chest, and waist, medical sources told the Press TV website.
At Dar al-Amal Hospital, a leading medical center in Baalbek, a city in Bekaa Valley, and Chtoura Hospital in mid-Bekaa, injured civilians and their families overwhelmed the facilities.
The injured people continued to trickle in, making the job of medics and paramedics arduous.
Baalbek, located in eastern Lebanon, is known for its large archaeological complex, which includes the ruins of an ancient Roman town and one of the world’s largest temples.
But, on Tuesday evening, Baalbek grabbed headlines worldwide for mass pager explosions.
At least nine people were killed and 2,800 others wounded in the explosions that were first reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
“Patients are being transferred to different governorates in Lebanon as hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded their capacity,” the ministry stated after the explosions.
Among those killed are a 9-year-old girl and son of a lawmaker affiliated with Hezbollah, Press TV correspondent in Beirut Mariam Saleh said in a report from the Lebanese capital.
The little girl has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah while the young man is Mahdi Ammar, son of ‘Loyalty to the Resistance’ bloc MP Ali Ammar.
Press TV correspondent in Beirut said certain people who were carrying pagers noticed them heating up before the explosions took place, adding that Israelis are on a state of high alert, expecting a severe response from Hezbollah.
