Explosion in the Burj al-Shemali camp. (Credit: NNA)
SOUR/BEIRUT — In the hours following an explosion in the Burj al-Shemali Palestinian camp near Sour, confusion reigned regarding the number of people wounded in the blast. No confirmed deaths have been reported.
Following the explosion, which took place around 9 p.m. L’Orient’s correspondent in the area, citing Palestinian sources, said that a weapons depot belonging to Hamas had exploded and that civil defense sources had reported the number of killed and injured at more than 20. Later, sources participating in relief work in the camp reported that 12 people were injured and that they were transferred to hospitals in Sour.
Reuters reported a similar figure and said that the number of fatalities was unknown.
However, multiple hospitals contacted in Sour by L’Orient Today said they had received no wounded from the blast.
As of 11:45 p.m. Sour's public hospital told a L'Orient Today reporter at the scene that they had received no patients. As of 11:55 p.m., Jabal Amel Hospital said they had admitted one woman for shock from the sound of the explosion. An Army Intelligence officer stationed at the Lebanese Italian Hospital said no patients had arrived there.
Civil Defense and Lebanese Army sources were unable to provide a number of casualties.
Ahmad Atieh, a Burj al-Shemali resident who runs a news site in the camp, told L’Orient Today that there had been no injuries apart from two people who fainted, although he said that multiple houses in the area of the explosion were damaged.
According to residents in Sour, explosive sounds were heard at 9 p.m. throughout the city. The scope of destruction was described as “large,” and damage occurred in surrounding residential areas.
The NNA reported that the explosion had taken place in an Islamic center run by Hamas. Social media reports identified the site of the explosion as the Abi bin Ka'ab Mosque. It was not immediately clear what had sparked the blast, and Hamas did not issue an official statement Friday on the incident.