Lebanon: A number of damage in fuel warehouse blast close to Syria border | Center East Information

The Lebanese Red Cross said it sent rescue teams to the warehouse where there was an explosion of gas canisters.

At least 10 people were injured when an explosion struck a warehouse where gas canisters were stored near the Lebanese border with Syria. This was announced by the Lebanese Red Cross and the army.

The Red Cross said it had sent several rescue teams to the village of Al-Qasr in the eastern Hermel region, where the explosion took place on Sunday, and taken the injured to hospitals.

“We responded to an explosion in a warehouse where gas canisters are stored. We responded with three teams. Ten people were wounded and taken to nearby hospitals, ”said a Red Cross statement.

A Lebanese army spokesman told AFP that the explosion was caused by gas canisters exploding in a warehouse.

The army said the explosions occurred outside of one of their checkpoints and none of their members were injured.

It wasn’t immediately clear what was causing the fire and the explosions.

The Hermel region is known for its many illegal border crossings into Syria, which are used by smugglers to bring various types of contraband goods across the border.

Smuggling is two-way, but has expanded from Lebanon to Syria since the war began in 2011 as the country faces a growing economic crisis and international sanctions.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, a key ally of the Syrian government, is often accused by the Lebanese media and some political parties of having conducted smuggling operations into Syria to the detriment of Lebanon, which experienced its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civilian population fighting has war.

In its statement, the Lebanese army said the camp was owned by a Lebanese family but did not say whether it was used to smuggle fuel.

The explosion came at a time of mounting tension in the region on the first anniversary of the assassination in Iraq of Qassem Soleimani by the US, an Iranian general who was also a key ally of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

The fire on Sunday began when Israeli jets flew low over Lebanon and when Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech in memory of Soleimani.

The jets created confusion about the source of the explosion. Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have often hit Syria from Lebanese territory.