Hariri Declares National Mourning as Lebanon Bids Farewell to Club Attack Victims
Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday declared national mourning over the Lebanese victims of Istanbul's nightclub massacre as the country bid farewell to three youths killed in the bloody attack.
“Work will stop across Lebanon and radio and TV networks should adjust their programs in a manner befitting of this tragedy for one hour starting from 2:00 pm today, Tuesday, January 3, 2017,” said a decree issued by Hariri.
“Lebanese wherever they may be are also asked to observe five minutes of silence at 3:00 pm to condemn this heinous crime, express a comprehensive Lebanese stance against terror and terrorists, and show solidarity with the families of the martyrs and the wounded,” Hariri added.
There has been widespread shock and mourning in Lebanon over the deaths of the three Lebanese killed.
Rita Shami was a 26-year-old student. Elias Wardini, also 26, was a personal trainer. Haykal Musallem was a 36-year-old physical trainer with the Tadamon Zouk basketball team whose wife managed to survive the attack.
A convoy carrying the coffin of Mussallem had left Ashrafieh's Hotel Dieu de France hospital for his hometown al-Bireh in Chouf in the morning.
The coffin Wardini was meanwhile taken from Ashrafieh's Saint George Hospital to a nearby church for the funeral. He was laid to rest at Ashrafieh's Mar Mitr cemetery.
Wardini's body was carried through the streets of Ashrafieh to the sounds of traditional darbuka drums and trumpets.
At the district's Notre Dame church, his open casket was lifted over the heads of friends and family, beneath giant portraits reading "The Angel of Ashrafieh" and "The Groom of Ashrafieh".
As is tradition in Lebanon for the death of young unmarried people, the funeral ceremony included the trappings of a wedding, with the church decorated in white flowers.
His two older sisters collapsed several times during the ceremony, one them shouting at the body: "Get up! Why don't you answer me?"
The night before a minute of silence had been observed for the three victims during a basketball match between Tadamon, where Musallem worked, and Beirut club La Sagesse, Wardini's favorite team. Portraits of the three victims hung over the stands.
The young woman Rita Shami will be buried on Thursday.
The bodies of the victims and five of the wounded had arrived Monday evening in Beirut aboard a Middle East Airlines plane.
Bushra Doueihi, the wounded daughter of Zgharta MP Estephan Doueihi, stayed in an Istanbul hospital due to her serious injuries and is expected to be transferred to Lebanon in the coming days.
Thirty-nine people, the majority of them foreigners, were killed and around 70 others were wounded when a gunman went on a rampage at Istanbul's luxurious Reina nightclub where revelers were celebrating New Year's Eve.
The jihadist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to Turkey's military intervention against the jihadists in war-ravaged Syria.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/223130 |