<\/p>\n
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said eight people were killed and some 2,750 wounded in pager explosions across the country on Tuesday, with Hezbollah earlier saying the pagers were used by its members.<\/p>\n
The blasts \u201ckilled eight people, including a girl\u201d, he told a televised press conference. \u201cAbout 2,750 people were injured \u2026 more than 200 of them critically\u201d with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach, he added.<\/p>\n
Pagers are a form of low-tech personal wireless communication device.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran\u2019s envoy to Beirut were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the \u201cbiggest security breach\u201d the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.<\/p>\n Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare in parallel with the Gaza conflict which erupted last October, the worst such escalation in years.<\/p>\n The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters<\/em> enquiries about the detonations.<\/p>\n Hezbollah confirmed in a statement the deaths of at least three people, including two of its fighters. The third person killed was a girl, it said, adding that an investigation was being conducted into the causes of the blasts.<\/p>\n One of the fighters killed was the son of a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese parliament, two security sources told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, suffered a minor injury when a pager exploded, Iran\u2019s semi-official Fars<\/em> news agency reported.<\/p>\n \u201cAmani has a superficial injury and is currently under observation in a hospital,\u201d Fars<\/em> quoted a source as saying.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/em> could not immediately confirm the report.<\/p>\n The pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months, three security sources said.<\/p>\n A Reuters<\/em> journalist saw ambulances rushing through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, amid widespread panic. A security source said that devices were also exploding in the south of Lebanon.<\/p>\n At Mt. Lebanon hospital, a Reuters<\/em> reporter saw motorcycles rushing to the emergency room, where people with their hands bloodied were screaming in pain.<\/p>\n The head of the Nabatieh public hospital in the south of the country, Hassan Wazni, told Reuters<\/em> that around 40 wounded people were being treated at his facility. The wounds included injuries to the face, eyes and limbs.<\/p>\n The wave of explosions lasted around an hour after the initial detonations, which took place about 3:45pm local time (1345 GMT). It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.<\/p>\n Lebanese internal security forces said several wireless communication devices were detonated across Lebanon, especially in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, leading to injuries.<\/p>\n Groups of people huddled at the entrance of buildings to check on people they knew who may have been wounded, the Reuters<\/em> journalist said.<\/p>\nScreaming in pain<\/h2>\n