Depositors raid 5 Lebanon banks

BEIRUT — Lebanese depositors, including one armed with a hunting rifle, broke into at least five banks Friday to demand their trapped savings amid a historic economic meltdown in the small Mediterranean nation.

Friday’s raids were the most in a single day, and raised the possibility that more desperate depositors would try to extract their money by force, reflecting public anger at the banks’ strict informal controls on cash withdrawals, a byproduct of the financial crisis.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon said all branches would be closed for three days starting Monday. But it was not immediately clear how banks or the authorities would be able to halt a possible wave of break-ins.