A gunman has entered one of the Lebanese banks in Hamra, Beirut calling workers to give him an amount of the money he has in order to treat his ill father who needs urgent surgery costing around $50,000.
According to Megaphone's Facebook post, the gunman, who was identified as B. H., is a 42-year-old Lebanese who has been visiting the bank for a week uselessly requesting to get some of his money to treat his father who has been in the hospital for a week.
من داخل فرع فدرال بنك مواطن يائس لم يعد لديه ما يخسره يطالب بامواله التي سرقت. pic.twitter.com/w5mfbZZjCR
— safaa mokbel (@safaamokbel7) August 11, 2022
B. H. entered the Federal Bank in the Hamra neighborhood in Beirut and threatened to kill himself after bringing a gallon of fuel and a huge weapon. He also warned people (workers and customers) not to leave the bank.
Local media sources added that the gunman had asked the bank earlier to get only $5,000 to be able to cover his father's medical costs, but the bank refused to give him the money.
عشرات المودعين يصلون الى محيط بنك فدرال للتضامن مع المودع الموجود داخله الذي يحاول تحصيل حقه بعد عجز المعنيين وتقاعسهم عن حفظ حقوق الناس.#لبنان
— Sahar®️AlAtrash سَحَرْ (@SahaR_bei) August 11, 2022
pic.twitter.com/xCqLg1yG6V
Furthermore, dozens of people have seemed to gather outside the Federal Bank, where the gunman is said to keep people under gunpoint, to cheer him up as some Lebanese described the armed man as a hero for calling for his rights on Thursday.
New videos are still emerging online as the Lebanese security forces and police seam to cover the area calling the suspect to surrender himself in the Hamra neighborhood in Beirut.
Lebanon is going through its worst economic crisis as banks are facing bankruptcy due to the coronavirus pandemic, Beirut's port blast on August 4th, 2020, and the failure in forming a new government.
