An image of the median struck by Rassi's car circulating on social media in the aftermath of the crash.
BEIRUT — The tragic road accident that claimed the lives of singer George Al Rassi and his passenger and colleague Zina al-Murabi last Saturday, near the border between Lebanon and Syria, is now the subject of a judicial procedure: the General Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Ghassan Oueidat submitted on Thursday a request for the opening of a judicial investigation to the financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim, according to the state-owned National News Agency.
Here's what we know:
• The request to open a judicial investigation was initially filed by the family's lawyer, Ashraf al-Moussaoui. It aims to launch an investigation during which the road contractors in charge of the routes linking Syria to Lebanon will be interviewed, among others.
• The request to open a judicial inquiry is a prerequisite for any judicial decision. According to the LBCI news channel, Ghassan Oueidat also sent it to the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) and other bodies.
• The tragic death of Rassi and Murabi has once again drawn attention to a recurring problem in Lebanon, but one that is rarely considered a priority: the high rate of deaths and injuries on the country's roads. The singer was returning from a show in Syria when his car hit a concrete barrier with no signs, in the middle of the Beirut-Damascus highway, killing him and his colleague. The incident sparked outrage among Rassi's relatives and others about the dangerous nature of the roads in Lebanon, which is in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its modern history.