Another Lebanese man commits suicide amid crisis

Beirut: A 40-year-old Lebanese man shot himself dead in Beirut after he was reported to have been sacked from work on Wednesday.

Around 10.30am, Lebanese citizen, Dany Abu Haidar, shot himself in the head with a hunting gun at the family house in Al Nabaa area after his employer had reportedly terminated him.

Abu Haidar’s suicide is the second of its kind following Sunday’s first incident when heavily indebted villager, Naji Al Fulaiti, hung himself over a 700,000 Lebanese pound debt and after failing to give his daughter 1,000 Lebanese pounds to buy a flatbread in Arsal.

In a televised interview, Abu Haydar’s father blamed his son’s suicide on the country’s leaders and political regime without exception.

“He returned home at 10.30am. His mother was hanging the laundry and wife was doing the rug. He got his hunting gun … when I asked him if he was going hunting, he said yes. In a second, he shot himself in his head,” the father said.

Since October 17, Lebanon has been witnessing ongoing street demonstrations in nationwide protests against widespread political corruption and mismanagement that has been worsening the country’s economic and financial crises.

A video of Abu Haydar’s mother went viral and in which she could be heard saying: “He left a family behind. Yesterday he was fine. The supermarket called and asked him to pay a pending Lebanese pounds LBP3m [around $2,000] he got angry and told them he cannot pay and to wait until the protests are over.”

Surrounded by family members the mother was heard saying that his salary had been slashed to half and he was the one spending on his parents, brother and three children.

Addressing protestors, the mother was said: “Burn the country … I am going to set the streets on fire. My heart is burning.”

Describing his last moments with tearful eyes, the mother said: “I put him between my arms and his eyes were shutting down slowly as he died. He is a hero and he never hurt anybody.”

Abu Haydar’s employer, Dabbas company, issued a statement expressing its regret and sorrow to his dramatic death and denied that he had been sacked.