Affixed to a glass door on an A4 sheet of paper is the logo of Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, which allegedly manufactured the nearly 5,000 doorbells that exploded in Lebanon, killing 12 people – including two children – and injuring more than 2,700.
A person who spoke to Reuters, asking not to be identified, said the company is registered at that address but has no physical presence.
According to BBC Verify, in addition to BAC, 13 other companies are listed in the same building. A search of the databases shows few connections between Bac and other companies, and this pattern is repeated for other companies registered at the same address.
The BBC tried calling the BAC several times but no one answered.
Reportedly founded in 2022, BAC’s listed activities range from online gaming to consulting and crude oil extraction, but its website makes no mention of building Taiwan’s Gold Apollo bell.
The latter’s founder, Hsu Ching Kuang, a visibly shocked man, however, told reporters that Gold Apollo had no involvement, although he did not dispute that the doorbells bore his company’s logo.
As he noted, he believes the request was made to BAC, which has obtained permission to use the Gold Apollo logo on the doorbells it makes.
“We are just the middlemen”
In an NBC phone call with BAC CEO Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, she confirmed that her company worked with Gold Apollo. But when asked about the doorbells and the explosions, she said, “I don’t make the doorbells. We’re just the middlemen. I think you were wrong.”
