AS THE world comes to grips with the horror of the bombings in Paris and Lebanon, one man is being hailed as a hero.

Young father Adel Termos risked his own life to tackle a man wearing an explosives vest, which some believe prevented the suicide bomber from entering a Shiite mosque and killing many more people.

Termos was with his daughter at the mosque in southern Lebanon when his afternoon prayers were interrupted by an explosion caused by a suicide bomber.

He went outside to check out what was happening when he saw a man running down a hill screaming “Allahu akbar”, Termos’s father, Akram Termos, told CNN.

Despite the danger to his own life, the 32-year-old car mechanic and father of two, ran towards the suicide bomber and pinned him to the ground. He was killed when the man detonated his vest.

Suicide Bombings Kill More Than 40 in Beirut At least 43 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in two suicide bombings in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday. The WSJ's Eva Tam has the details.

Termos’ actions are believed to have saved the lives of many others, but his story and the bombings in Lebanon have largely been overshadowed by the Paris attacks.

“There are many many families, hundreds of families probably, who owe their completeness to his sacrifice, ” Beirut physician Elie Fares said in her blog.

Termos’s widow Bassima Termos told CNN that the people of the town were proud of his sacrifice.

“All our neighbours and the people of our town are so proud of him,” she said. “The close ones and the friends, and the strangers ... everyone is proud.”

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings that killed about 45 people including Termos. More than 200 people were injured. But Termos’ daughter was among the survivors.

Bassima Termos said her husband had held their family name up high and honoured them.

“The kids and I are all doing fine. He made us proud, put our heads up high, what more do I need? He gave me dignity, pride, and respect,” she said.

Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country with a history of civil war, has seen deadly spillovers from the Syrian conflict including a wave of bombings and suicide attacks in 2013 and 2014. But Thursday’s twin blast was the first since mid-2014 and took people by surprise. It was also one of the deadliest.

Previous explosions have also targeted Shiite populated areas of Lebanon. Militants have claimed responsibility for these attacks, saying it was payback for Hezbollah — a Shiite Islamist militant group based in Lebanon — which has fought alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria.

There were also reports of a third attacker on Thursday night, who wore an explosives’ vest but who was killed in the second blast before he could blow himself up. His body was found with the vest intact.