5 children remain in serious condition after yesterday’s deadly blast of Hezbollah munition near Lebanon border

Five children remain in serious condition following an explosion yesterday of previously unexploded Hezbollah ordnance near the Lebanon border that killed a 15-year-old.

Ziv Medical Center says it has two children in serious condition, with one sedated and ventilated, nine children in good condition, and two adults in mild to moderate condition.

A total of eight children were admitted to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Three are severely injured, one is moderate and four have mild injuries, the hospital says.

Three children and one adult are in stable, moderate condition at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus.

The Health Ministry says that a treatment center for individuals suffering from acute stress has been opened at Ziv Medical Center, staffed by a specialized team dedicated to child and adolescent mental health.

The group of students and teachers from the ORT Ma’alot school was hiking in the Ramim Ridge area when a piece of unexploded ordnance, believed by the Israel Defense Forces to be a cluster submunition from a Hezbollah rocket, detonated.

One of the schoolchildren is believed to have come across the unexploded submunition during the hike and put it in his backpack. Several minutes later, the submunition exploded, according to a preliminary probe by authorities.