Lebanese citizen breaks into bank with fake gun to withdraw her deposit

CAIRO - 14 September 2022:A Lebanese citizen, Sali Hafez, broke into BLOM Bank and took hostages in order to withdraw her frozen deposit.

 

Hafez attributed her action to the inability to pay the cost of the treatment of her ill sister, which pushed her to withdraw her frozen deposit.

 

She stated that she withdrew the deposit by force, fled from the Lebanese security and went with her sister to Istanbul to complete the latter treatment.

 

However, Hafez used a fake gun to break into the bank.

 

Lebanon is suffering from a severe economic crisis that began in 2019 and intensified this year, causing the collapse of most basic public services in the country, while poor groups bear the brunt of the economic crisis in a country where the cost of everything is rising on a daily basis.

 

The economic crisis,which is the largest in decades, escalated due to the increase in energy prices. Thus, the state announced the unavailability of dollars, and prevented any bank withdrawals.