Around a dozen people injured in explosion at south Lebanon Palestinian camp | Inquirer News

Around a dozen people injured in explosion at south Lebanon Palestinian camp

/ 06:30 AM December 11, 2021

A rescue team's vehicle is seen at the Palestinian camp where an explosion took place, in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, Lebanon December 10, 2021. REUTERS/Ali Hankir

A rescue team’s vehicle is seen at the Palestinian camp where an explosion took place, in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, Lebanon December 10, 2021. (REUTERS)

BEIRUT  – A large explosion rocked a Palestinian camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre on Friday night, injuring about a dozen people, according to rescue workers on scene and a Palestinian source inside the camp.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported an unspecified number of deaths, but local media and civil defense workers on scene said there had been no fatalities. A security source also said fatalities had not been recorded.

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The NNA reported that the blast emanated from a Hamas weapons depot in the Burj al-Shemali camp and a judge had ordered security forces to launch an investigation.

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A number of armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah Movement, hold effective control over roughly a dozen Palestinian camps in the country, which Lebanese authorities by custom do not enter.

Shehab News Agency, seen as close to Hamas, quoted a Palestinian source as saying the explosion was caused by the ignition of oxygen canisters stored for use in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The security source said the fire had since been brought under control.

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Hamas has not officially commented.

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The area surrounding the blast had been evacuated and rescue crews had deployed, the Palestinian source said.

Videos from the scene shared by local media show a number of small bright red flashes above the southern city, followed by a large explosion and the sound of glass breaking.

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TAGS: Israel, Lebanon, Palestinian

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