By Emilie Madi and Walid Saleh
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The explosion of thousands of Hezbollah’s mobile communication devices has spread fear across Lebanon, leaving people terrified they might be carrying bombs in their pockets.
At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 wounded when first pagers, then walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded in two waves of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel carried out the attack.
False rumours have spread of other types of mobile phones and even appliances blowing up since the attack.
Mustafa Jemaa said he had removed some stock from his electronics shop in the southern city of Sidon.
“We had some devices here that we believed were 100% safe, but out of caution, we removed them … because we got worried,” he said.
The Lebanese army on Thursday called on citizens to report any sightings of suspicious objects, adding that it had been conducting controlled explosions of pagers and other devices thought to be rigged.
Lebanese civil aviation authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers being taken on flights or shipped by air, the National News Agency reported.
Those killed or wounded in Tuesday’s blasts included Hezbollah fighters, medics and administrative staff. At least two of Tuesday’s dead were children, killed when pagers belonging to their fathers blew up.
“Of course we’re scared, my children, my siblings’ children, all of us. Who can feel safe in this situation?” said Mustafa Sibai, a Beirut resident.
“When I heard about what happened yesterday, I left my phone on my motorcycle and walked away,” he said.
Ziad Makari, information minister in Lebanon’s caretaker government, said panic was to be expected, noting that the attack was “a new type of crime to the Lebanese” and that it had struck people at home, at work and during their daily lives.
But he added that “there are many rumours – an intercom blew up, a solar power (system) blew up, a television blew up, a smart phone blew up”. “There are a lot of lies … a lot of fake news and this doesn’t help at all,” he said.
(Reporting by Walid Saleh in Beirut, Emilie Madi in Sidon and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry)
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