#2 Speaking outside the 15-story building where the explosion occurred, Ambassador Ali Suleiman Saeed said: "Regrettably, it happened when one of the employees, with the knowledge of his colleagues, was playing with some old explosive materials left over from the (1975-90 civil) war. It exploded, hitting him and two of his colleagues."
Ayas al-Alayli, 36, took the grenade from a shelf and threw it to the floor to show Mirna Mugharbel, a secretary, that it wouldn't explode, an employee in the office said. Al-Alayli was killed and Mugharbel and another office worker, Hussam al-Jamal, were injured.
Mugharbel suffered shrapnel wounds to her legs, said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to speak to the press. Blood stained the floor as well as the desk and chairs in Mugharbel's office. |
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- A hand grenade exploded in the Kuwaiti information office in Beirut on Monday killing a Lebanese employee who had been playing with it, the Kuwaiti ambassador to Lebanon said. The explosion killed 35-year old Ayyas al-Alayli, the office's security officer, and wounded two other Lebanese employees, a senior Lebanese security source said. "This was not an act of terrorism," Ambassador Ali Suleiman al-Sauid told reporters. "Unfortunately one of the employees was playing around with some old explosives ... when it exploded, according to his colleagues who are now at the hospital".