A plane operated by Lebanese national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) that was landing at Beirut airport was on Thursday hit by a bullet, an airport official said.
“The plane was hit by a stray bullet as it was landing, the bullet landed near the first row in the business class, there was no injuries but an investigation was opened into the incident,”
Fadi El-Hassan, the acting director general of civil aviation at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International airport, told dpa.
Lebanese MP Paula Yacoubian, who was on the plane, said in a tweet that “the issue of uncontrolled weapons and stray bullets must be put to an end”
The lawmaker shared pictures on her Twitter of the hole in the fuselage of the plane.
The airport is located south of Beirut in a residential area which was mostly controlled by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
In Lebanon, celebratory gunfire was widely used especially during weddings and funerals.
The acts had been denounced by many officials and activists, as people had lost their lives as a result.
Several aircraft had been hit before by stray bullets at Beirut airport but so far, only while they were parked.( dpa/NAN)
