A gunman has surrendered after taking hostages during a raid on a bank in Beirut, where he demanded access to his stranded savings.
Authorities said Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, 42, entered a Federal bank branch with a shotgun and a can of gasoline and threatened to set himself on fire if he was not allowed to take the money out.
An official said he took 10 bank employees and customers hostage and fired three warning shots.
After hours of negotiations, he accepted an offer from the bank to receive part of his savings, according to local media and a group of depositors involved in the negotiations.
He then released the hostages and surrendered.
Dozens of protesters gathered in the city’s busy Hamra district for the demonstration, chanting slogans against the Lebanese government and banks, hoping that the gunman would get his savings. Some bystanders hailed him as a hero.
Man talking to negotiators from behind bars of a bank
Hassan Moghnieh, head of the advocacy group the Lebanon Depositors Association to join the negotiations, said Hussein had $210,000 (£171,000) stuck in the bank and was struggling to get the money out to pay the bills. medical care for his father.
The country’s cash-strapped banks have introduced strict limits on withdrawals of foreign-currency assets, tightening the savings of millions.
Lebanon is suffering the worst economic crisis in its modern history. Three-quarters of the population falls into poverty and the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value against the US dollar.
Dina Abou Zor, a lawyer, said: “What has led us to this situation is the failure of the state to solve this economic crisis and the actions of banks and Central Banks, where people are can only take some of his money as if it were a weekly allowance.” with the advocacy group Depositors’ Union, who were among the protesters.
“And this has led to people solving problems on their own.”
