BEIRUT, Lebanon

A Lebanese depositor withdrew his savings by force from a bank in Beirut on Monday, according to a banking association.

The Association of Depositors said on Twitter that the depositor stormed a Blom Bank branch in Haret Hreik in the southern suburb of Beirut and “retrieved his savings.”

The association shared a video of the bank holdup on its Twitter page.

The Depositors’ Outcry NGO, for its part, said the depositor, who was identified as Zahir Khawaja, recovered $11,750 from his bank account.

At least eight storming attempts were reported in Lebanon last month during which depositors managed to recover amounts from their frozen funds.

The incidents pushed the banks to close their doors for several days to protest the holdups.

Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic crisis since 2019, leaving most people locked out of their bank accounts.

* Sohaila Barghash contributed to this report from Ankara