Several injured in gas warehouse explosion near Lebanon-Syria border
At least 10 people have sustained injuries in an explosion that rocked a warehouse storing gas canisters near Lebanon’s border with Syria, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
The Red Cross said it has sent three rescue teams to the village of Al Qasr in the eastern Hermel region where the explosion occurred, and rushed the injured to hospitals.
“We have responded to an explosion in a warehouse that stores gas canisters. We have responded with three teams. Ten people have been wounded and transported to nearby hospitals,” a Red Cross statement said.
A Lebanese army spokesman also confirmed to AFP news agency that the blast had been caused by the explosion of gas canisters in the warehouse.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire and explosions.
The region of Hermel is known for its many illegal border crossings into Syria, which are used by smugglers to move various types of contraband.
Smuggling takes places both ways, but has been stepped up from Lebanon into Syria since the start of the war there in 2011 and as Beirut faces a growing economic crisis and international sanctions.
In its statement, the Lebanese army said the warehouse was owned by a Lebanese family, but did not say whether it was used for smuggling fuel.
#LEBANON #BREAKING received this video of a warehouse that supposedly exploded on the Lebanese Syrian borders (warehouse in Al Qasr village. We are told gas tanks are stored in that warehouse.
— Luna Safwan - لونا صفوان (@LunaSafwan) January 3, 2021
Also; Israeli warplanes roaming at a very low altitude over Beirut. pic.twitter.com/3KhqDRL5AF
The explosion came at a time of increased tension in the region on the first anniversary of the US assassination of Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was an important ally of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
The Sunday’s fire started while Israeli jets were flying low over Lebanon and as Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was delivering a speech to commemorate Soleimani.
The jets caused confusion over the source of the explosion, according to Al Jazeera.
Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have often struck inside Syria from Lebanese territory.
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