Pager explosions in Lebanon have killed at least nine people and injured 2,800, according to the Lebanese health minister

The explosions occurred “in different regions of Lebanon,” the country’s health minister announced earlier.

Explosions across the country. Pager explosions in Lebanon have killed at least nine people and injured 2,800, including Hezbollah members, the Lebanese health minister announced on Tuesday, September 17. The pagers, a paging system, exploded simultaneously “in several regions of Lebanon”according to the same source.

According to the minister, most of the victims were affected “in the face, in the hand, in the stomach and even in the eyes”. The Iranian ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, is among the injured, Iranian state television said on Tuesday, adding that his injury remains “superficial”“.

In Syria, fourteen Hezbollah members were also injured on Tuesday, as hundreds more of these radio paging devices exploded in Lebanon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Islamist movement Hezbollah accuses Israel of being behind the explosions. In a statement, the powerful pro-Iranian group assured that Israel would “receive his just punishment” following “this criminal aggression”.

The Ministry of Health has requested “to all health professionals to immediately go to their workplaces to contribute to emergency care for the large number of injured” and launched a “Call for coordination with the Lebanese Red Cross to organize blood donations”.

Israel has not yet commented on the explosions, which occurred in several Hezbollah strongholds.