Lebanon: Drivers protest at new hike in fuel prices
Roads blocked in several parts of the crisis-hit country
Cairo: Drivers, infuriated by a new increase in fuel prices, have blocked roads in several parts of Lebanon as the country is grappling with a crippling economic crisis.
Fuel prices went up by almost 25 per cent in Lebanon on Wednesday, sparking street protests and road blockings. Bus drivers Thursday cut off a main road linking the capital Beirut to the coastal city of Tripoli, Lebanese media said.
Cab drivers, meanwhile, blocked the road in front of the Energy Ministry building in Beirut in protest against the latest increase in fuel prices.
In Balbek in eastern Lebanon, angry young people blocked the city’s southern entrance, using burning tyres in a similar protest.
Lebanon is experiencing its worst economic hardships in decades, amid a nosedive in the value of the local pound and a severe fuel shortage, a situation that has taken a toll on the people’s living standards and the health sector in the country.
Fuel prices have dramatically risen by around 1,000 per cent in Lebanon since the start of the year, local media said.