Depositor storms BML bank in Beirut, takes $6500
A Lebanese depositor broke into BML bank in Beirut on Monday to demand his trapped savings.
After storming the bank, Omar al-Awar held the branch manager hostage until he received his entire savings, a sum of $6500.
In a video he took of himself inside the bank holding the manager hostage, al-Awar said he will not leave before receiving his savings, even if he'd get himself killed, threatening with a bottle of flammable liquid.
The Depositors Outcry association said the depositor left the bank with $6500, and is now in the Bachoura police station, asking depositors to support him.
As the small country’s crippling economic crisis continues to worsen, a growing number of Lebanese depositors have opted to break into banks and forcefully withdraw their trapped savings. Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed informal limits on cash withdrawals. The break-ins reflect growing public anger toward the banks and the authorities who have struggled to reform the country's corrupt and battered economy.
Three-quarters of the population has plunged into poverty in an economic crisis that the World Bank describes as one of the worst in over a century. Meanwhile, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value against the dollar, making it difficult for millions across the country to cope with skyrocketing prices.
Source: Naharnet
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