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Lebanon: Woman storms bank in Beirut after her savings were frozen

2022-09-14T14:15:01.836Z


Lebanon is suffering from a massive economic crisis, people are only allowed to withdraw money to a limited extent. Now a woman has stormed a bank to get her sister's savings - and save her.


Enlarge image

Shattered bank window in Beirut

Photo: Hussein Malla/AP

In Beirut, a group of activists robbed a bank to withdraw money.

They poured gasoline on the floor and desks, said a customer who was in the branch, the dpa news agency.

An activist then forced the branch manager to pay out her sister's savings.

Lebanon has been suffering from the worst economic crisis in its history for almost three years.

Large sections of the population have slipped into poverty.

The national currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value.

Because it used to be tied to the dollar, many Lebanese have accounts in US currency.

However, with the country running out of foreign exchange supplies, the Lebanese's ability to withdraw US dollars from their bank is very limited.

The group of activists involved in the robbery calls itself Sarchat al mudiain, which means "cry of the depositors".

She supported the action of the woman named Sali Hafiz, who herself was an activist in the protests several years ago.

The group said on Twitter that Hafiz had received around $13,000 from a deposit of around $20,000.

The money should be used to treat her sister, who is suffering from cancer and, according to Hafiz, is dying.

“I'm not here to set fire to anything.

I'm only here to get my rights back," Hafiz said in a video of the attack.

Security forces soon arrested several of the activists.

It was initially unclear whether Hafiz himself was arrested.

A gunman also reportedly stormed a bank branch in northeast Beirut on Wednesday.

He managed to withdraw $30,000 from his account.

Last month, a gunman held several hostages in a bank for hours and threatened to set himself on fire with petrol if his savings were not paid out.

He reportedly had around $200,000 in his bank account and needed money to pay for his father's treatment at a hospital.

After about eight hours he turned himself in to the police, but the bank promised to pay him $30,000.

Potential international backers like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are demanding reforms before helping the country.

However, the government has not yet implemented this.

kha/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-09-14

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