Arms stored for the Palestinian Hamas group exploded in a refugee camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre on Friday night, killing and wounding a number of people, the state-run National News Agency said.
NNA reported an unspecified number of deaths at the Burj al-Shemali camp, but local media and civil defense workers on scene said there had been no fatalities. A security source also said fatalities had not been recorded.
The NNA reported that the blast emanated from a Hamas weapons depot and a judge had ordered security forces to launch an investigation.
Lebanon hosts tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees, most of whom live in the country's 12 camps. Unofficially, they are said to number as many as half a million.
A number of armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah Movement, hold effective control over the camps, which Lebanese authorities by custom do not enter.
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.
The security source said the fire had since been brought under control.
The area surrounding the blast had been evacuated and rescue crews had deployed, the Palestinian source said.
Videos from the scene shared by local media show a number of small bright red flashes above the southern city, followed by a large explosion and the sound of glass breaking.
