By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 1 February 2017:
Two residents were killed this morning in east Tripoli’s Tajoura district while they were queuing to withdraw money from a bank.
Eyewitness told Tajoura local radio there was a huge crowd of people queuing for the cashpoint that led to a stampede. It is reported that two security guards then shot at the crowd in an attempt to impose order, killing two and injuring at least another four.
One of the two dead has been named Ali Bujanah.
The shooting happened outside of the local branch of the National Commercial Bank. Local reports also allege that the security guards assaulted an old man who tried to film the incident.
In the wake of the months-old cash crisis, banks in and around Tripoli were packed today following reports that moiney would be available.
Although full details are not known of today’s incident, it appears to mirror the killing last May of five people and the wounding of another ten when a security guards from a local militia again panicked when customers tried to force their way into a bank in Gasr Ben Gashir and fired at them.
