The founder of Taiwan's Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-Kuang denied that his company manufactured the pagers used in the explosions that occurred in Lebanon on Tuesday, resulting in at least nine fatalities and nearly 3,000 injuries.
The detonations were triggered simultaneously by pagers used by militant-group Hezbollah members across the country.
News agency Reuters reported that images of the destroyed pagers revealed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with those produced by Gold Apollo.
A high-ranking Lebanese security official said that Hezbollah had placed an order for 5,000 pagers from the Taiwanese company.
Earlier, a New York Times (NYT) report said that pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded on Tuesday came from Taiwan, with Lebanon claiming that explosives packed in sometime before they arrived in Lebanon.
However, Hsu clarified that the pagers involved in the incident were manufactured by a European company called BAC, which had the right to use Gold Apollo's brand. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," he said, without disclosing the name of the European manufacturer. Hsu further said that Gold Apollo was also a victim in this situation.
"We are a responsible company. This is very embarrassing," Hsu said.
According to media reports, Hezbollah's fighters started using pagers believing they could avoid Israeli tracking of their locations.
Hezbollah blames Israel, vows 'punishment'
Hezbollah vowed revenge against Israel following accusations that the latter was responsible for detonating pagers throughout Lebanon.
Ziad Makary, the Lebanese information minister, denounced the detonation of the pagers, which are commonly used by Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon for communication purposes. He labeled the incident as an "Israeli aggression". Meanwhile, Hezbollah declared that Israel would face "its fair punishment" for the explosions.
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