Armed client holds Lebanon bank staff hostage to access savings – Roya News English

Armed client holds Lebanon bank staff hostage to access savings – Roya News English

A customer armed with a rifle and threatening to set himself ablaze held bank workers hostage Thursday in Lebanon's capital, demanding to withdraw his trapped savings to pay hospital fees, security sources and a family member said.

The incident is the latest between local banks and angry depositors unable to access their savings held in cash-starved banks because of informal capital controls in economic crisis-hit Lebanon.

Security forces cordoned off a Federal Bank branch near west Beirut's busy Hamra street where the armed man was holding staff hostage for several hours.