Extract from ABC News
Hundreds of people flooded to hospitals across Lebanon after the wave of explosions. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
In short:
Lebanon's health ministry says at least nine people have been killed and about 2,800 others injured by a wave of pager explosions across the country.
The devices are used by the militant group Hezbollah for communication.
What's next?
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack and says it will get "its fair punishment".
At least nine people have been killed and about 2,800 others injured after pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded in a wave of blasts across Lebanon, the country's health ministry says.
The ministry says an eight-year-old girl is among the dead, and that 200 people are in a serious condition and need surgery.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.
In a statement, Hezbollah said a spree of simultaneous detonations killed two of its fighters and one girl.
Hezbollah sources said the group's chief, Hassan Nasrallah, was not harmed in the blasts.
Ambulance and hospital staff were mobilised across Lebanon to deal with the number of casualties following the explosions. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
The Iranian-backed militant group blamed Israel for the widespread attack and said it would get "its fair punishment".
The Israeli military declined to comment when contacted by Reuters about the detonations.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was slightly injured by the explosion of an electronic pager.
A witness has told ABC News of seeing one of the pagers exploding on a man riding a motorcycle in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Ambulances have been seen rushing to hospitals across Beirut. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
Other witnesses have reported ambulances rushing through the southern suburbs of Beirut amid widespread panic.
Residents said explosions took place across the country, including in Lebanon's south, 30 minutes after the initial blasts.
Three security sources told Reuters news agency the pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months.
People registered to donate blood in Lebanon as the number of those wounded in the attack continued to rise. (Reuters: Aziz Taher)
Lebanon's crisis operations centre, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care.
It said healthcare workers should not use pagers.
Regional news outlets have broadcast CCTV footage showing what appeared to be a small handheld device spontaneously exploding after being placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was paying.
In other footage, an explosion appeared to knock out someone standing at a fruit stand in a market area.
The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 50 ambulances and 300 emergency medical staff were dispatched to assist in the evacuation of victims.
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