When streams of bloodied people converged on Lebanon's hospitals on Tuesday, it was a test of whether the crisis-hit health sector could cope with a mass casualty event like what could be expected in a wider war with Israel.

Another wave of blasts was reported a day after at least a dozen people were killed and thousands were wounded when pagers carried by members of Hezbollah detonated almost simultaneously.

The latest blasts come almost exactly 24 hours after the near-simultaneous explosions targeting pagers of the militant group Hezbollah, exposing a massive security breach among its members.