Armed men demanding bank-frozen deposits took an unspecified number of hostages at theFederal Bank of Lebanonon Thursday, security sources and Reuters said. eyewitnesses said.
Lebanon's banks have hard restricted withdrawals of his currency for most depositors during the country's three-year-long financial crisis, leaving his More than 3 of his 4 are suffering .
A man armed himself with a gun and broke into a branch of the Federal Bank of Lebanon in Hamra district, west of Beirut, just before noon on Thursday, security sources told Reuters.
"He requested access to about $200,000 in his bank account, but when the employee refused the request, he started yelling that a relative was in the hospital. He pulled out a gun," a security source said.
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Several customers at the bank managed to escape before he closed the rest of the doors, sources said. Specify how many clients or employees the branch had.
At least one elderly man was released from the bank because of his age, and government negotiators were dispatched to begin negotiations with the man who took the hostage, the Interior Ministry said. said.
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Lebanese media station Al-Jadeed said at least two shots were fired at him in the incident. Stated. The Lebanese Red Cross told Reuters it had deployed ambulances to the scene but had yet to treat anyone. Silo collapse
Reuters witnesses were able to see a bearded man in a black shirt behind a gated entrance to the bank, dressed in plain clothes.
"Give me my money back!" he heard him telling them.
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A crowd gathered outside the bank, many chanting "Overthrow bank rules!"
Since the outbreak of Lebanon's financial crisis in 2019, many commercial banks have kept their customers out of hard currency through informal capital controls.
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Limit monthly cash withdrawals in US Dollars and allow other limited amounts to be withdrawn in Lebanese Pounds at rates much lower than parallel market rates. This significantly reduces the original value of the deposit.
Banks say they make exceptions for humanitarian cases, including hospital care, but depositors told Reuters that such exceptions are rarely enforced. talking.
© 2022 Reuters
