More than 2,000 people have been injured in beeper explosions across Lebanon

More than 2,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were injured when pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, security sources told Reuters.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pager explosion was the "biggest security breach" Hezbollah has suffered in its nearly year-long war with Israel.

Iran's Mehr news agency said Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Amani, was injured in one of the explosions.

A Reuters reporter saw ambulances racing through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut as people panicked. A security source said there were also pager explosions in southern Lebanon.

At Mt. Lebanon hospital, a Reuters reporter saw motorcycles hurtling toward the emergency room and people screaming in pain with blood on their hands.

The head of Nabatiyah public hospital in southern Lebanon, Wazni, told Reuters about 40 wounded people were being treated there. The injured suffered facial, eye and limb injuries.

The explosions continued for about an hour, with the initial blast occurring at 3.45pm local time. It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.

Closed-circuit television footage broadcast by regional broadcasters showed a small handheld device placed next to a grocery store checkout counter when it suddenly exploded.

The Crisis Operations Centre under the Lebanese Ministry of Health requested all medical staff to go to their respective hospitals to help deal with the large number of wounded arriving for emergency treatment. Medical staff should not use pagers, the center said.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it had sent more than 50 ambulances and 300 emergency medical workers to help evacuate the wounded.