A woman raids the Beirut Bank to withdraw the savings of a sick sister

An armed man and a group of sympathizers stormed a bank in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. She demanded that she be allowed to withdraw $13,000 of her savings. The woman said she needed the money to treat her sister who had cancer.

Strict withdrawal restrictions have been in place in Lebanon since 2019. The country has been going through a severe economic crisis for years, with two-thirds of the population living in poverty. Bank customers are only allowed to withdraw about $300 at a time. The government wants to prevent people from withdrawing all their money from their accounts and prevent the collapse of the banking system.

The woman who stormed the bank in Beirut this morning entered the manager’s office and demanded the withdrawal of her savings. She poured gasoline on the floor and threatened to set the building on fire.

According to eyewitnesses, she left the bank with a plastic bag full of cash and ran away. Some of the people accompanying her were arrested as they left the bank building.

There was already a similar campaign at another bank in Beirut a few weeks ago. Then a man asked for $30,000 to pay for his father’s surgery. He could only withdraw $300, while there was $200,000 in his account. The man was eventually going to get $30,000. His lawyer immediately denied this, possibly to prevent further hostage-taking.