Eight people were killed and five wounded in Beirut when an employee angered at being asked to return a loan opened fire at random on staff of the private schools teachers' mutual fund, authorities said.
Ahmad Mansour fired with an assault rifle on colleagues at the mutual fund headquarters in a building of the education ministry in the southern UNESCO neighborhood of the capital, before being arrested, police said.
Education Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad told reporters at the scene that Mansour, an office clerk there for the last 10 years, had taken a loan of 18 million Lebanese pounds ($12,000) from the fund.
The minister said Mansour had been angered at the confiscation of his car, as part of the fund's measures to force him to pay back the loan.
Mrad had earlier said that Mansour had been angered by the mutual fund's failure to grant him a loan of 19 million Lebanese pounds ($12,700).
Mrad said Mansour came in late to work, carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle in a bag, then opened fire on his colleagues in two offices in the building.
He said the man was arrested by police who rushed to the scene after hearing the shots. AFP