Depositor takes money by force from Sidon bank for son’s surgery

Depositor takes money by force from Sidon bank for son’s surgery

Lebanese depositor Wafik Mohammed Kalo on Monday locked up himself and other people inside BLOM Bank’s branch in the southern city of Sidon, demanding that he be paid $5,000 from his account to pay for his son’s heart surgery.

The drama ended a few hours later after the bank paid Kalo LBP 280 million.

The man had locked the bank’s gate from the inside, threatening to set himself on fire and preventing anyone from entering or leaving the branch. According to Kalo, the money was needed to cover the expenses of an open heart surgery for his two-month-old son.

Security forces eventually managed to convince Kalo to allow depositors who got trapped inside to leave.

Kalo’s father meanwhile said that his son was not armed.

“We came today after the bank’s director told us to come on Monday to take the money. A week ago we brought the papers and X-rays after the treating doctor told us that the child was suffering from a hole in his heart and needed a $5,000 open heart surgery,” the father added.

“We have five accounts in the bank and we don’t want them all; we only want the surgery’s expenses. When my son asked for his right, they prevented