BEIRUT (Reuters) — An arms depot of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia Muslim group, exploded in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source reported, wounding several people and sending a new shockwave through a country in the throes of its deepest crisis in three decades.

The security source said the arms depot blast, which sent a huge column of black smoke into the sky, was caused by a “technical error”. Another security source said Hezbollah had set up a security cordon around the blast site, about 50 km south of Beirut. Journalists were prevented from approaching the area.

The explosion rocked the village of Ain Qana in south Lebanon, a political stronghold of the heavily armed and politically powerful group, which has fought wars with neighbouring Israel.

Since the Beirut blast on August 4, subsequent fires at the port and elsewhere in the capital have caused panic in Beirut and the country, whose economy is in meltdown.