Allegations that the exploding pagers that killed at least 12 people in Lebanon on Tuesday, and injured thousands more, were made in Hungary are incorrect, the Hungarian government said on Wednesday.
Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said that the pagers were not made in Hungary and have never been in Hungary, as the company in question is a trading intermediary with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary.
The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, according to a statement released on Wednesday, September 18th by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. “We authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC.”
Hundreds of paging communication devices carried by Shiite Hezbollah terrorists began exploding across Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon. The coordinated attack killed at least 12 people and wounded 2,800 more, including Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. More than 200 people are in critical condition.
Hezbollah blamed its arch-foe Israel for the attack, and vowed to retaliate. One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the group’s “biggest security breach” in its history.
Experts believe military-grade explosive material was put into the pagers before their delivery, and Israel’s spy agency Mossad may be responsible. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that “the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah” which appear to have been “sabotaged at source.”
The devices were ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company said they had been produced by its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT.
A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters said the group had ordered 5,000 pagers from Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year.
According to media reports, BAC Consulting is registered at an address in Budapest but does not have a physical presence there. Its registered activities are wide-ranging, including computer game publishing, book publishing, IT consulting, and crude oil extraction. The company’s CEO, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono did not respond to emails from Hungarian media outlets, and its website is currently inaccessible.
However, NBC News reached her on the phone. She confirmed that her company worked with Gold Apollo, but when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
Following the killing of its senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has been using pagers instead of mobile phones in order to evade Israel’s sophisticated surveillance technology, Reuters reported in July.
Hezbollah has been engaged in cross-border warfare with Israel since the October 7th massacre committed by Palestinian terror group Hamas, and organised by Iran. The clashes on the Lebanon front have killed hundreds in Lebanon, mostly fighters, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will make an address on Thursday, in a speech addressing “the latest developments.”
