‘Gory and gruesome’: Victims, families and doctors on pager blasts in Lebanon

By Hiba Morad

In Tuesday’s mass explosions of handheld pagers carried by Lebanese citizens across the country, the majority of the injuries were to the face, eyes, hands, chest, and waist, medical sources told the Press TV website.

At Dar al-Amal Hospital, a leading medical center in Baalbek, a city in Bekaa Valley, and Chtoura Hospital in mid-Bekaa, injured civilians and their families overwhelmed the facilities.

The injured people continued to trickle in, making the job of medics and paramedics arduous.

Baalbek, located in eastern Lebanon, is known for its large archaeological complex, which includes the ruins of an ancient Roman town and one of the world’s largest temples.

But, on Tuesday evening, Baalbek grabbed headlines worldwide for mass pager explosions.

At least nine people were killed and 2,800 others wounded in the explosions that were first reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

"Patients are being transferred to different governorates in Lebanon as hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded their capacity," the ministry stated after the explosions.

Among those killed are a 9-year-old girl and son of a lawmaker affiliated with Hezbollah, Press TV correspondent in Beirut Mariam Saleh said in a report from the Lebanese capital.

The little girl has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah while the young man is Mahdi Ammar, son of 'Loyalty to the Resistance' bloc MP Ali Ammar.

Press TV correspondent in Beirut said certain people who were carrying pagers noticed them heating up before the explosions took place, adding that Israelis are on a state of high alert, expecting a severe response from Hezbollah.

Severe hand and face injuries

Dr. Bassam Mortada, a specialist in anesthesiology and reanimation, who performed a series of surgeries at the Chtoura Hospital after the incident on Tuesday, spoke to the Press TV website and said what he saw and confronted were gory scenes resulting from the pager detonations.

“The cases that required urgent operations had amputated fingers or hands, with severe facial injuries, especially to the eyes,” he explained.

“The majority of injuries are to the hands, eyes, face, neck, and chest. Some injuries also affect the waist and legs. It is likely that explosive materials were placed in the pagers, and I don't believe this was a cyber attack.”

Dr. Mortada, who attended to hundreds of patients until late on Tuesday, said facial injuries from explosions pose significant challenges to doctors in restoring proper ocular, oral, and facial functions, including the eyes, nose, and ears

He added that many of the injured were young Lebanese men with distorted facial features, some of whom required intensive care following surgical procedures.

Doctors turn emotional

Footage circulating on social media after Tuesday’s pager explosions showed the wounded being taken to hospitals in Beirut and southern Lebanon with sirens blaring all around.

Many young people were seen assembling in front of hospitals and health centers in different cities to assist the injured and donate blood for them.

Dr. Mortada, speaking to the Press TV website, cried profusely as he described the severity of injuries caused by high-intensity explosions.

“When I saw the victims and their injuries, I could not help but think of Abolfazl al-Abbas, Imam Hussein’s brother in Karbala,” He said as he sobbed.

Hazrat Abbas, who fought alongside Imam Hussain against the army of the corrupt Umayyad caliph Yazid, is highly revered among Muslims as a symbol of loyalty.

For Dr. Mortada and many others, the scenes in Bekaa brought back memories from Karbala and Hazrat Abbas in the way many had their arms and limbs amputated.

Lebanese health minister Firas Abiad confirmed that 9 people had been killed while more than 2,750 people were injured, including about 200 in critical condition, in 100 hospitals.

According to medical sources, the death toll is likely to mount as many continue to be in critical condition in various hospitals.

Many eye-witnesses told the Press TV website that the scenes they witnessed on the streets and inside hospitals after the explosions were “gory and gruesome.”

“No big deal”

The scenes of tragedy have been accompanied by the demonstration of resilience by those affected by the mass explosions on Tuesday. The never-say-die spirit has been clearly evident.

Lying in a hospital bed with his face and hands covered in bandages, a victim of the explosions told the Press TV website that he hoped at least one of his eyes would recover quickly so he could return to work as soon as possible.

As he was wheeled toward the operation theater by nurses, the victim spoke to the Press TV website and explained that his pager exploded as soon as he tried to open a message.

His visible skin showed severe burns, and his eyes were completely bruised, but strong painkillers allowed him to communicate and narrate the harrowing experience.

“This is not a big deal,” he told the Press TV website. “What is the worst-case scenario in this battle? That we get martyred? This is our dream come true, and being injured is also an emblem that we wear forever,” he said.

Another victim surrounded by family members waiting in the corridor of the ER section at a hospital in Bekaa has sustained injuries in his left hand and both eyes.

Talking to his sister he asked, “How many fingers did I lose one or two? I cannot see.” “Four,” she replied, her nose red and eyes puffy with sobbing.

The victim calmly said, “It’s okay, I can still manage with my other hand. Don’t be upset.”

Asked what exactly happened, he told the Press TV website that he took out his pager to check the messages and it “exploded instantly,” leaving his puzzled and in pools of blood.

“Israel will undoubtedly pay for this; a heavy price just wait and see,” he asserted.

We will grow stronger

A victim's family, speaking to the Press TV website, echoed the sentiment that the Israeli regime cannot dampen the spirit of Lebanese people with such cowardly attacks.

“What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” said the victim’s father-in-law, waiting outside the hospital’s garden. “It’s painful, yes, but it strengthens us.”

The victim was at the time in the operation room undergoing surgery for his critical injuries.

“This is what all the Lebanese people who have relatives in hospital rooms believe and say out loud, just like my father said, if this does not kill us it will make us stronger,” said his wife.

Chatting to his daughter, who kept going back and forth to the surgery department at the hospital, he said “So what could happen? He gets martyred? We have always been ready for that and nothing will stop us from defending our land and fighting the Israeli savage regime.”

Kassem, a relative of one of the injured persons, said just like Sayyed Zainab in the aftermath of Karbala, he and others see “nothing but beauty.”

Asked if this attack would break the people’s will, Kassem confidently stated, “If 2,600 are injured, Israel should know that number will multiply tenfold. In a few days, 26,000 young men will join the resistance.”

For her part, Laila Haidar, mother of a victim said her 23-year-old son was driving his car when the pager exploded in his face as he held it to read a message he had received.

She saw her son and spoke to him before he entered the operation theater for surgery.

“He said we should wait for him and that he will be fine,” she said with a smile.

“This is our battle and we will fight it until the end. We are winners and we are resilient, Israel does not understand our mindset and it is sinking in the mud of Lebanon and Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Zainab Madi, mother of martyr Ali Issa Kassem, was also waiting for her injured husband at the premises of the hospital. Her husband got injured as the pager exploded before he got the chance to hold it.

Zainab said the hundreds of young men who were injured from pager explosions were regular citizens, shopping for families, driving their cars, present at their homes, and also resistance fighters willing to protect Lebanon and its people.

“We were never the occupiers, how does that make us terrorists? Israel is the terrorist entity killing civilians in Lebanon and Gaza and occupying our lands,” she noted.

“This is our path and we will not back down,” she told the Press TV website. 

Hezbollah’s response

In its statement, Hezbollah said after examining all facts and available information about the attacks that they hold the Israeli regime "fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of several people and the injury of many others."

"Our martyrs and wounded are the symbol of our struggle and sacrifices on the road to Al-Quds, in victory for our honorable people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and continuous field support,” the resistance movement said.

"Our position of victory, support and backing for the valiant Palestinian resistance will remain a source of pride and honor for us in this world and the hereafter.

"The treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its punishment for this sinful aggression," read the statement.

In a follow-up statement issued early on Wednesday, the Lebanese resistance movement extended condolences to those killed in Tuesday’s explosions in the southern front in Blida and Majdal Selem.

“The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon will continue, today as in all the past days, its operations in support of Gaza, its people, and its resistance, and in defense of Lebanon, its people, and its sovereignty," said the movement.

"This path is ongoing and separate from the severe reckoning that the criminal enemy must face for the massacre it committed on Tuesday against our people, our families, and our fighters in Lebanon. That reckoning is another matter and it is surely coming, by the will of Allah,” said the movement.

“What happened yesterday will only strengthen our determination and resolve to continue along the path of jihad and resistance, and we are absolutely certain of Allah’s promise to the faithful, patient fighters of victory, by the will of Allah.”

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk