“Bullets of joy” hit three passenger planes

Elaf from Beirut: The chairman of the board of directors of “Middle East Airlines”, Muhammad Al-Hout, confirmed that three Lebanese planes were hit by stray bullets as a result of the shooting on New Year’s Eve, a phenomenon that the authorities had failed to stop despite from the awareness campaigns of years ago.

Al-Hout revealed that the three planes were hit shortly after midnight at Rafic Hariri International Airport, adding that “it is not the first time the planes have been hit by stray bullets, as dozens of planes have been exposed to bullets stray in recent years. “

The French Press Agency reported in the morning that a bullet went through a plane belonging to the Lebanese tanker without affecting air traffic at the airport.

A Middle East Airlines source told France Press that the damaged Airbus plane was “E321neo”, one of seven new planes that Lebanon will receive in 2020. He explained that the plane is currently being detected.

On the other hand, a woman was killed by stray bullets that were fired to celebrate the start of the new year, according to the National News Agency. The agency reported that the wounded woman was a Syrian refugee who died “after being hit by a stray bullet that penetrated her head inside the Al-Taybeh camp” for Syrian refugees in the city of Baalbek, who witnessed strong bullets fired. in the air.

The phenomenon of the shooting into the air generates great concern in the country, with the continuous casualties, the last of which was the prominent soccer player, Muhammad Atwi, who was injured in August and died the following month.

A campaign launched by the Internal Security Forces a few days ago under the hashtag “reckless_bis_better” to warn of the dangers of this phenomenon, failed to reduce injuries and victims.

Social media users in Beirut and various areas posted photos and videos documenting the shootings live at midnight. One of them wrote on Facebook: “The bullets of reckless people.” Another asked about the source of the lead price at a time when the country is going through its worst economic crisis.

On Thursday, security forces specifically warned of “stray bullets falling at the airport, threatening the safety of aviation and the lives of travelers and arrivals.” However, this did not prevent a bullet from penetrating one of the aircraft.

The increasing firing of bullets into the air reflects the extent of the proliferation of uncontrolled individual weapons in Lebanon since the end of the civil war (1975-1990) and raises the need for strict enforcement and modernization of the laws.