Large crowds rallied outside the government building and on Banks Street after heeding a call for action spread on social media.
Dozens of youths set fire to tire piles, blocking a busy traffic tunnel that leads to the central Hamra street.
Stand-off between police and protesters in downtown Beirut. #beirut #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/MX7GWhsVug
— Line Søgaard (@Line_Cph) September 29, 2019
Guys wtf is going on in beirut pic.twitter.com/vEnaYNP3WQ
— Alina (@alinar4d) September 29, 2019
Demonstrations prompted by fears of a nearing economic collapse were also held in the northern town of Hermel and in the city of Baalbek farther south.
Protests related to the economic situation escalating in #Beirut. Trying to identify the black car they’ve surrounded. #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/QKTwbYMgZH
— Kareem Chehayeb | كريم (@chehayebk) September 29, 2019
Protests across #Beirut #Lebanon today - first in front of Parliament this morning, now along major highways. People are burning tires and police are clashing with demonstrators. The immediate cause is the dollar crisis, but people say they’re angry at the system itself pic.twitter.com/nWkbeODhcD
— Michał Kranz (@Michal_Kranz) September 29, 2019
A nationwide strike last week shut 97 percent of gas stations, whose owners said they needed more dollars to pay fuel distributors. The national miller association warned of a grain shortage for the same reason.
