An armed man demanding deposits frozen by his bank took an unspecified number of hostages on Thursday at the Federal Bank of Lebanon, a security source said and a Reuters witness said.
Lebanese banks have limited withdrawals of hard currency for most depositors during the country's three-year financial meltdown, which has left more than three-quarters of the population poor.
The man entered the Federal Bank of Lebanon branch in the Hamra neighbourhood in west Beirut just before noon on Thursday with a firearm, the security source told Reuters.
Some customers in the bank managed to flee before he shut the doors on the rest, said the source, who was not able to specify how many clients or employees were in the branch.
Two shots were subsequently fired, according to Lebanese media station Al-Jadeed.
A Reuters witness could see a bearded man in a black shirt behind the gated entrance to the bank speaking to several men in plainclothes on the outside.
"Let them give me back my money!" he was heard telling them.
Spain dismantles one of Mediterranean's largest human smuggling networks
Thai teen kills 7 in rampage at home and school before shooting himself
Syria says bomb on minibus near Damascus wounded 14, deaths reported mistakenly
Spain hopes to transfer migrant minors to mainland within weeks
Morocco to cooperate on return of minors from Spain after Ceuta crossing
