Who are the victims of the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon?

This deadly wave of explosions has left, according to the latest report, 37 dead and nearly 3,000 injured in the ranks of Hezbollah and among the civilian population, exacerbating fears of a large-scale war in the Middle East.

Dozens dead and thousands injured. On Tuesday, September 17, simultaneous explosions of pagers, a radio messaging system used by Lebanese Hezbollah, occurred in its strongholds in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in southern and eastern Lebanon. Twelve people died and hundreds were injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The following day, a second wave of explosions, this time targeting walkie-talkies, killed at least 25 people, according to the ministry, bringing the death toll over two days to 37 and 2,931 injured. According to the Lebanese Health Minister, most of the victims were injured “in the face, in the hand, in the stomach and even in the eyes.”

Hezbollah members and Iranian ambassador

The victims were mostly Hezbollah militants who were carrying the pagers or walkie-talkies targeted by the blasts. Little information has been released about who they were. Information about their identities was released as the bodies were identified, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Several funerals were held Thursday in and around Beirut.

Fourteen Hezbollah members in Syria, according to an NGO, are among the wounded. Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the explosion of a pager, Iranian television announced.

Collateral victims

According to Lebanese authorities, the dead include the son of a Hezbollah MP. The son of another MP was also injured, as were the children of a senior security official of the Lebanese Islamist movement, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP, information that the Lebanese authorities have not commented on. Several wounded are being treated in Syria and others have been evacuated to Iran, Firass Abiad said. The latter also reported on Wednesday that four health professionals working in “private hospitals in the southern suburbs of Beirut” are dead.

Two children aged 9 and 11 killed

Fatima Abdullah, a 9-year-old girl, was hit by her father’s pager explosion. “Fatima was in the kitchen on Tuesday when a pager on the table started ringing. She picked up the device to take it to her father and was holding it when it exploded, mutilating her face and leaving the room covered in blood.”one of her aunts told the New York Times.

Journalists from the American daily went to the little girl’s funeral on Wednesday, which took place in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, a rural area on the border with Syria and known to be a Hezbollah stronghold. “Most of the mourners were Fatima’s school friends, their faces contorted with grief and shock at the violent death of someone so young,” describe THE New York TimesThe aunt of the girl interviewed reports that she “was just coming back” from the school at the time of the attack.

The Lebanese health minister, quoted by the American daily, also announced the death of a second child from his injuries on Wednesday. According to Hezbollah, his name is Bilal Kanj and he is 11 years old.