Lebanese haunted by psychological trauma after deadly device blasts

People attend a funeral of those who were killed in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

BEIRUT, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tears welled in Elias Jradi's eyes as the surgeon stepped out of an operating room at Ragheb Harb Hospital in Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh. Inside the operating room were dozens of citizens with eye injuries sustained from the explosions of pagers and wireless communication devices a few days ago.

"We went through difficult and critical hours inside the operating rooms, as we saw the injured protruding eyes, severed limbs, and shattered faces," Jradi said.

The pagers and wireless devices widely used by members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group exploded earlier in the week, resulting in 37 fatalities and 2,931 injuries.

In a choked, low voice, Jradi, also a parliamentarian, told Xinhua that it was a terrifying scene never seen in the history of wars, with hundreds of people injured in their eyes and arms crammed into emergency rooms.

"We had to prioritize the most severely injured and perform critical surgeries on them," Jradi said. "At the same time, we had to treat severed limbs through specialized surgeons and bleeding eyes, as a large percentage of them lost their sight."

This photo taken on Sept. 18, 2024 shows motorcycles damaged in explosions of communication devices in Baalbek, Lebanon. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)

For Laila Abdallah, a nurse at the governmental hospital in Nabatieh, the days of the explosions still rattle her to the core.

"We did not know what was happening outside, as ambulance sirens were blaring everywhere, with rescue crews transporting numerous injured people covered in blood to the emergency department," she said.

"The horror of the scene shook my body and caused my vision to blur for moments before I was able to find strength again to continue helping the injured," the nurse recalled, adding, "The blood-stained bodies have not left my mind."

Hassan Hamdan, a 50-year-old citizen, said the scene resembled "a horror movie I've never seen in my life, as large numbers of people were falling on the ground, in shops, or inside cars, with most of their injuries being in faces, eyes, and hands."

"I found no way to help the dozens of injured around me in the streets of Nabatieh, so I called the Red Cross, from where ambulances were distributed in every direction, picking up the injured and rushing to hospitals," Hamdan said.

People wait to donate blood for those wounded in pager explosions at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

Kawthar Fahs, another Lebanese citizen, told Xinhua she was accompanied by her little child at a fruit shop in the center of the southern city of Tyre when a device exploded on a young man in his thirties a few meters away.

"My child seemed anxious and confused and started screaming when he heard the explosion and saw citizens running to help," she said.

Despite the large amount of casualties, local hospitals had prepared to accommodate more injured individuals, as Israel had previously indicated it would intensify military operations in Lebanon.

"We were ready thanks to the intensive training offered to the medical and nursing staff and other hospital workers since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip," Moueness Kalakesh, director of Marjeyoun Governmental Hospital, told Xinhua.

People wait to donate blood for those wounded in pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

While the physical wounds of the victims are being treated, the emotional scars left by the explosions may linger for a long time. Psychiatrist Claude Nasr told Xinhua that "the bloody explosions inside homes, on the streets and in many public places will negatively affect the psychological health of individuals and society in general."

"It is tough for children and adults to forget these terrifying scenes," she said, adding a large percentage of people suffer from depression, anxiety, and nightmares, and they need "periodic psychological health consultations for several months."

The explosions, which Hezbollah blamed on Israel, add a new layer to the ongoing 11-month clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel, although making no comments yet about the two incidents, has previously announced a shift in military focus from Gaza to northern Israel, vowing a continuous offensive against Hezbollah until the safe home return of its northern residents.