Depositor Omar al-Aawar shows the money he retrieved Monday morning from Banque Misr Liban in Beirut. (Credit: Twitter/@sarkhitmoudiin)
BEIRUT — A depositor recovered his entire savings on Monday morning, after holding up a Banque Misr Liban branch in downtown Beirut, the Depositors' Cry collective announced.
Sixty-year-old Omar al-Aawar threatened bank employees with a bottle containing an unidentified liquid, then left with his money, before being transferred to the Bachoura police station in Beirut, according to Depositors' Cry. No injuries were reported.
In a video posted on social networks, Aawar declared that he would not leave the bank without his savings, which amounted to $6,500. "I have substances, but I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want my money," he said, holding a bottle containing a brown-colored liquid. It was not possible to verify whether the bottle contained toxic or dangerous substances.
"The depositor wasn't armed. He's just sick and needs his money. That's his right," Alaa Khorchid, a member of the Depositors' Cry, told L'Orient-Le Jour.
A spokesperson for the Internal Security Forces told L'Orient-Le Jour they were unable to provide any further information on the incident.
In June, angry protesters ransacked four banks in the Sin al-Fil district of Beirut's eastern suburbs, following a call from the Depositors' Cry collective.
The same group burnt and ransacked several banks in Beirut's Badaro neighborhood, home to several bank branches, in February. Angry demonstrators also vandalized banks in Tripoli that same day.
Banks have been imposing illegal restrictions on their customers since Lebanon's economic crisis began in 2019, limiting withdrawals and transfers. In recent months, the country has seen a wave of bank holdups in which depositors, sometimes armed, have broken into branches to claim their own funds.