After communications explosions, Lebanese fear bombs in their pockets

By Emilie Madi and Walid Saleh

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The explosion of thousands of Hezbollah mobile communications devices has spread fear in Lebanon, with people fearing they may be carrying bombs in their pockets.

At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured when pagers and then walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members exploded in two waves of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel carried out the attack.

Since the attack, false rumors have spread that other types of mobile phones and even household appliances have also exploded.

Mustafa Jemaa said he had removed some of his inventory from his electronics store in the southern city of Sidon.

“We had some equipment here that we thought was 100 percent safe, but out of an abundance of caution we removed it … because we were concerned,” he said.

The Lebanese army on Thursday urged its citizens to report any sightings of suspicious objects, adding that it had carried out controlled explosions of pagers and other suspected tampered devices.

Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday banned the carrying of walkie-talkies and pagers on board aircraft or their shipment by air, the National News Agency reported.

The dead and injured in Tuesday's explosions included Hezbollah fighters, medics and administrative workers. At least two of Tuesday's dead were children who died when their fathers' pagers exploded.

“Of course we are afraid, my children, my siblings' children, all of us. Who can feel safe in this situation?” says Mustafa Sibai, a resident of Beirut.

“When I heard what happened yesterday, I left my phone on my motorcycle and walked away,” he said.

Ziad Makari, information minister for Lebanon's interim government, said panic was to be expected, pointing out that the attack was “a new type of crime for the Lebanese” and that it affected people at home, at work and in their daily lives.

However, he added that “there are a lot of rumors – an intercom exploded, a solar panel exploded, a TV exploded, a smartphone exploded.” “There are a lot of lies… a lot of fake news and that doesn't help at all,” he said.

(Reporting by Walid Saleh in Beirut, Emilie Madi in Sidon and Tom Perry in Beirut; text by Tom Perry)