Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based pager manufacturer, has denied producing the explosives-laden pagers that were detonated across Lebanon on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of nine people and nearly 3,000 injuries. Reports had surfaced suggesting that the devices used in the blasts were Taiwan-made, with allegations pointing to Israel’s Mossad spy agency for planting explosives inside the pagers.
In a statement, Gold Apollo’s founder and president, Hsu Ching-Kuang, clarified that the pagers involved in the incident were not manufactured by their company but by a European firm named BAC, which holds a license to use Gold Apollo’s brand. “The product is not ours. It only had our brand on it,” Hsu said, addressing the media at their New Taipei office. He emphasized that the company was unaware of how the pagers were rigged with explosives.
Lebanese sources had previously claimed that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, had ordered 5,000 pagers from Gold Apollo, specifically identifying the model AP924, consistent with those produced by the Taiwanese firm. However, Gold Apollo clarified that BAC, not Gold Apollo, was responsible for the design and production of the pagers.
The simultaneous explosions occurred in Lebanon and parts of Syria, with Hezbollah reportedly using these pagers as low-tech communication devices to avoid Israeli tracking. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Gold Apollo reiterated its commitment to responsible manufacturing and expressed regret over the confusion.
