The second bank heist in Beirut in as many months illustrated the deep frustration in Lebanon over the failing economy and restrictions on bank withdrawals.
BEIRUT — Sali Hafiz donned a black T-shirt and trousers and a pair of lime green sneakers. Mask askew, she charged into a bank in Lebanon’s capital on Wednesday, cocked a gun in the air and demanded her money.Hafiz is the second person in Beirut this summer to take hostages in a bank, where depositors have been prevented from accessing the money in their accounts for nearly two years.
After the heist, the Blom Bank put out a statement confirming that Hafiz was a depositor at the branch. It said she entered with a group of people, detaining customers and employees, sprinkled gasoline around the bank and threatened to set the people inside on fire. She then forced the manager and treasurer to open the safe and took the money inside. There were no reports of injuries.shared by the Depositors’ Union showed Hafiz counting stacks of money.
Gas prices have also shot up this month, after the central bank ended a subsidy that it said had drained its reserves. The value of the Lebanese pound slid to a record low on Wednesday, reaching 37,000 pounds to the dollar, even though it remains officially pegged, as it has been for decades, at 1,500 to the dollar.Salaries have not caught up, and unemployment is rampant.
In her interview, she apologized for scaring anyone, adding that the gun was a toy she got from her young nephew.
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