LEBANON BANK STAFF HELD HOSTAGE BY ARMED MAN DEMANDING SAVINGS

Thu 11 August 2022:

A man armed with a shotgun is taking hostage personnel at a bank in Lebanon’s crisis-hit capital, Beirut, and threatening to burn himself on fire unless he receives his trapped savings.

On Thursday, a man carrying a canister of gasoline entered a Federal Bank branch in Beirut’s crowded Hamra sector, carrying a canister of petrol. He was holding six or seven bank employees hostage, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Armed man holds Lebanon bank staff hostage
#Beirut pic.twitter.com/DGOYWhprJJ

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 11, 2022

Armed man holds Lebanon bank staff hostage#Beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/lv3GkOSPIC

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 11, 2022

Armed man holds Lebanon bank staff hostage#Beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/rCR1b4SCKH

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 11, 2022

The man also fired three warning shots, the official said.

Local media reported he has about $200,000 stuck in the bank.

Banks in Lebanon, which is suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history, have implemented strict withdrawal limits on foreign currency assets, effectively freezing the savings of many citizens, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported from Beirut.

“Banks have imposed informal capital controls for nearly three years. In late 2019, people were locked out from their savings. A few months later they started to impose limits on withdrawals as well. And if you had a [US] dollar account, they would disburse their money in Lebanese currency which has really devalued,” she said, adding that the value of the Lebanese pound has declined by more than 90 percent against the US dollar.

The crisis has left two-thirds of the population living in poverty, but foreign governments have avoided investing or bailing out the cash-strapped country without commitments to reforms to address corruption.

Mobile phone footage of the incident showed the man demanding his money. In another video, two police officers behind the locked bank entrance ask the man to release at least one of the hostages, but he refuses.

NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent