Hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria today, killing eight people and injuring more than 2,700 — with 200 in critical condition. [UPDATE, 9/18: The death toll from Tuesday's explosions is now 12 people, according to The Guardian.]
The handheld pagers, which reportedly heated up before exploding, killed members of Hezbollah, as well as a girl, according to Huff Post.
"Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack," reports Huff Post.
Lebanon's Health Ministry warned anyone with a pager to stay away from it.
Video below (posted by Yashar Ali) shows one of the pagers exploding at what looks like a produce market.
At least eight people were killed and 2,750 others including Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran's envoy to Beirut were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources and the Lebanese health minister said.
Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary said the government condemned the detonation of the pagers as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah also blamed Israel for the pager blasts and said it would receive "its fair punishment".
The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters enquiries about the detonations. …
Many of those hurt included Hezbollah fighters who are the sons of top officials from the armed group, two security sources told Reuters.
Lebanon's crisis operations center, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care. It said health care workers should not use pagers.
Previously: Hamas terrorists used synthetic amphetamine to "suppress fear and anxiety" during attack, says IDF and US
