Endless queues of cars extending from gas stations have become a common sight in Lebanon. Some people have taken this to the extreme and slept in their cars, in the middle of the road, overnight, to make sure they get to refuel the next day.
This incident was captured on video in the border area of Wadi Khaled, northern Lebanon, and has since been widely shared by Lebanese people on social media.
The end of the car queue extending along the side of the road in the video cannot be pinpointed, and neither can its beginning.
The song playing in the background, Joseph Attieh’s “El Hak Ma Bi Mout,” gives the otherwise gloomy scene a slightly humorous atmosphere with its famous patriotic lyrics asserting, “from here, we will not leave.”
Humor aside, however, these are people who have decided to spend the night in their cars just so they would grab their ration – typically, no more LBP 20,000’s worth under the current circumstances – of gasoline, which will probably not last them more than a few days at the most.
Despite recurring affirmations that Lebanon is not short on gasoline, gas stations across the country are either rationing their fuel reserves or refraining from selling gasoline entirely.
