Lebanon: Blast rocks Palestinian camp causes casualties

A large explosion has rocked a Palestinian camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, causing a number of casualties.

A Palestinian source inside the camp told Reuters news agency at least 12 people had been wounded and there were an unknown number of fatalities after the blast late on Friday.

Local media and civil defense workers on scene, however, said there had been no fatalities. A security source also said fatalities had not been recorded.

The explosion took place at a suspected Hamas weapons depot in the Burj al-Shemali camp and a judge had ordered security forces to launch an investigation, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

It said the army had cordoned off the area, preventing people from entering or leaving the camp.

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

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.

Hamas, the group that runs the besieged Gaza Strip, maintains a presence in a number of Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Many live in the 12 refugee camps that are scattered across the small Mediterranean country.

A number of armed Palestinian factions, including those linked to Hamas and Fatah, hold effective control over the camps, which Lebanese authorities by custom do not enter.