Taipei City
A Taiwanese company denied on Wednesday any involvement in the manufacture of pagers used in detonations across Lebanon, which resulted in the deaths of nine people and injuries to nearly 3,000 others, including Hezbollah fighters and medics. Gold Apollo Co., based in Taiwan, clarified that the pagers were produced by a Hungarian company under a brand agreement.
Gold Apollo’s president, Hsu Ching-Kuang, stated that the pagers bore the company’s brand but were not made by them. He explained that the Hungarian company BAC Consulting KFT had been authorized to use Gold Apollo’s trademark for sales in specific regions. However, BAC was responsible for the design and manufacturing of the pagers, including the AR-924 model involved in the explosions.
Gold Apollo emphasized that it had no role in designing or producing the pagers linked to the blasts. The company expressed its concern over the situation and stated its willingness to cooperate in any investigations. Hsu mentioned that the company was unaware of how the pagers had been rigged to explode.
Hezbollah announced it is conducting a security investigation into the detonations, which were allegedly triggered by explosives planted months earlier. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed there were no direct exports of these pagers to Lebanon and will assist in further inquiries. The pagers reportedly operated on ordinary AA batteries, adding to the confusion surrounding the incident.
