They gathered to mourn pager attack victims – then a blast tore through the crowd
18 September 2024 8:33pm
They had gathered in their thousands to defy Israel and lay to rest four of their comrades, victims of the pagers that had exploded in their hands or their pockets the previous day. Then it happened again.
As the shadows lengthened in the late afternoon on Wednesday, a single thud echoed through the crowd following one cortège through the streets of Hezbollah’s strongholds in south Beirut.
Suddenly screams drowned out the resistance songs blaring out of the sound system and the crowd scattered – except for a man in a white top and black trousers who crumpled backwards onto the ground, his hands blown off, according to witnesses.
It was just the start. Across the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, as well as in the Hezbollah-dominated Bekaa Valley 19 miles to its east, simultaneous explosions, mostly triggered by detonating handheld radios, set buildings and cars ablaze, sending smoke billowing across the skyline.