Photo: Karem Monzer
Photo: Karem Monzer

One shot dead, two injured in Tripoli over food rations

A young man was shot dead, and another two were injured after a fight broke out in Tripoli over the distribution of food rations on Tuesday, the first day of Ramadan. 

The altercation took place in the Khannaq bridge, near the Abu Samra area. What first began as a fight eventually led to an exchange of gunfire, whereby a young man (K.M.) was heavily injured and later succumbed to his wounds in the Mazloum Hospital for treatment.

Two others were injured and are now being treated in the hospital.

Local media reported that Internal Security Forces arrested the shooter, identified only by his initials A.M. An investigation is reportedly underway.

After the incidents, video footage shows residents breaking the warehouse glass and stealing available food supplies. 

Even prior to the financial crisis, Tripoli was known as Lebanon’s poorest city. The city and its residents have suffered severely since the start of the economic collapse and the lockdowns imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports have stated that around 94 percent of the city’s population is earning less than the minimum wage, now pegged at less than $2 per day. 

As the country continues to spiral further out of control amid the financial meltdown and political deadlock, residents have grown restless and desperate.