'I reached a point where I had nothing else to lose,' Sali Hafez said.
A woman accompanied by activists and brandishing what she said was a toy pistol broke into a Beirut bank branch on Wednesday, taking $13,000 from her locked savings.
Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency since 2019, tying up the savings of millions of people. About three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty as the tiny Mediterranean country's economy continues to spiral. Nadine Nakhal, a bank customer, said the intruders"doused gasoline everywhere inside, and took out a lighter and threatened to light it." She said the woman with the pistol threatened to shoot the manager if she did not receive her money.
Some of the activists entered the bank with Hafez, while others staged a protest at the entrance. Hafez eventually left with cash in a plastic bag, witnesses said. Both incidents occurred weeks after a food delivery driver broke into another bank branch in Beirut and held 10 people hostage for seven hours, demanding tens of thousands of dollars in his trapped savings. Most hailed him as a hero.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Woman robs bank in Lebanon to pay for ill sister's treatmentWoman holds up a Beirut bank with a toy gun and walks out with thousands of dollars to pay for her sister's cancer treatment in a desperate heist cheered by many in crisis-hit Lebanon
Les mer »
Woman With Toy Gun Breaks Into Beirut Bank, Takes Her Trapped SavingsA woman accompanied by activists and brandishing what she said was a toy pistol broke into a Beirut bank branch on Wednesday, taking $13,000 from her trapped savings.
Les mer »
Gun-toting woman holds up Beirut bank, leaves with her own savingsAn armed woman walked away with more than $13,000 of her own savings from a bank in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, after briefly holding up the branch, according to a local television station.
Les mer »
Woman with toy gun grabs trapped savings from Beirut bankShe said she had repeatedly visited the bank to ask for her money and was told she could only receive $200 a month in Lebanese pounds.
Les mer »