The Lebanese Foreign Ministry declared that Lebanon’s Consulate in Istanbul has been following up on the situation of the Lebanese victims of the terrorist attack that took place at Reina nightclub in the city.
The identified injured are the daughter of MP Estephan Douaihy, Nidal Bcherrawi, Melissa Paralardo and Francois al-Asmar.
In this context, sources told LBCI that the number of Lebanese victims in Istanbul terrorist attack rose to 3 dead, including Elias Wardini, and 4 injured.
In turn, Hassan Bcherrawi, brother of Nidal, stressed that there are 13 Lebanese nationals hit in the attack, including two in a critical condition, adding that Nidal, Francois al-Asmar and Naser Beshara are in a stable condition, while the daughter of MP Estephan Douaihy is in a critical condition and is currently undergoing surgeries.
Meanwhile, the family of Rita al-Chami said that the latter was with Bouchra al-Douwaihy when the attack took place and went missing ever since.
For his part, brother of Rita al-Chami told LBCI that a friend of Rita contacted him and informed him that his sister had died in the attack, noting however that he has not yet received any statement from an official source.
This comes as Transportation Minister Youssef Finianos called on the General Director of Middle East Airlines Mohammad al-Hout to give a priority for the victims’ families to fly to Istanbul and provide them with free plane tickets.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri contacted President Michel Aoun and briefed him on the course of contacts conducted with the Turkish authorities.
In this regard, both presidents decided to send a MEA plane carrying a delegation from the Foreign Ministry accompanied with a team from the relief committee as well as a medical team, tasked with checking up on the wounded and arrange their transfer to Lebanon.
Consequently, the MEA administration urged the families willing to travel to Istanbul to head to the airport before 7 pm and receive their two-way tickets.
In turn, Health Minister Ghassan Hasbany called for providing the victims of the attack, who will be transported to Lebanon, with the necessary treatment at the expense of the Health Ministry.