Dr. Saleh al-Shall , the medical director of Ibn Sina hospital in the city of Baalbek was kidnapped overnight prompting protests by Baalbek residents to demand his release, Lebanese media reported on Wednesday
Dr. Shall was reportedly abducted from his orchard which is situated on the outskirts of Lebanon’s eastern mountain range, the reports added.
“He was not just any doctor, he was everyone’s doctor,” one man told LBCI television. “He has been treating Baalbek for 45 years.”
An eyewitness said that several four-wheel-drive vehicles and a pickup truck suspected to be carrying the doctor were seen en route to the town of Brital.
Shall’s relative said the family tried to file a missing person report at the local police station, but were told they need to wait 24 hours for the director to be considered missing, which then allows them to begin investigations.
The residents of Baalbek held a rally outside the local government headquarters to protest against the abduction of the doctor and the state’s failure to find him.
Maya, Saleh’s daughter, told reporters that her father ” is a cardiologist who has been serving the residents of Baalbek and the northern Bekaa for the past 50 years.”
Maya urged the Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) to use its influence to free her dad
“We don’t know anything about him until this moment,” she said.
Mohammad al-Lakkis, the owner of Ibn Sina hospital, criticized the security chaos in the eastern city.
He demanded that security forces and the judiciary put an end to similar incidents in Baalbek.
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