A firm in Hungary’s capital has been linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah militants, killing 12 people and seriously injuring thousands.
Images of the destroyed devices showed a format and stickers consistent with the AR-924 model of pagers with Gold Apollo branding – a Taiwan-based company.
But the firm’s founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said the devices were actually made under licence in Budapest by a firm called BAC Consulting, using the Gold Apollo name.
BAC’s address in Budapest is a small gated building.
Middle East latest: ‘Israel planted explosives in pagers’
In a statement given to Sky News in Taiwan, Gold Apollo said: “Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC.
“According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.”
The remains of what is said to be one of the exploding pagers
Asked about the pagers and the explosions, the CEO of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, told NBC News, Sky News’ US partner: “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
A Sky News reporter in Budapest saw people arriving at the BAC Consulting property this morning who identified themselves as plain-clothes officers and asked not to be filmed.
A sign featuring the names of several companies. Pics: AP
A piece of paper in the window at the property lists multiple companies, including BAC.
Neighbours said they hadn’t seen anyone going in or out of the building for several weeks until today.
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Explosion at Lebanon market
Twelve people were killed and thousands seriously injured when pagers across Lebanon exploded on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s health minister said as many as 2,800 had been wounded. Some 300 people are in critical condition, with injuries to their eyes and face, while some have had body parts amputated.
Among those killed are two children, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, the health minister, Firass Abiad, told Sky News.
“A lot of people who suffered from this attack are non-combatants or civilians,” he said.
“A large number of the population of Lebanon were affected with this attack. And I think a lot of people will be suffering from the aftermath.”
Further blasts were heard in Beirut on Wednesday evening.
Reuters cited a security source and a witness saying communications devices used by Hezbollah detonated in the country’s south and in the southern suburbs of the capital.
At least one of the blasts heard took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed yesterday, Reuters said.
A Lebanese security source has told the Reuters news agency that Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside thousands of pagers ordered by the militant group Hezbollah months before the explosions.
The senior source said the militant group had ordered 5,000 beepers which several other sources said were brought into Lebanon in the spring.
They claimed the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level”.
Another security source told Reuters up to 3g of explosives were hidden in the new pagers that went “undetected” by Hezbollah for months.
Lebanese officials laid the blame on “Israeli aggression”, while Hezbollah promised to retaliate, insisting Israel would receive “its fair punishment” for the blasts.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in a cross-border conflict since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October – sparking the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza – fuelling fears of a wider war in the Middle East.