Lebanon's Hamra Street reflects crisis - in pictures

Famed boulevard now home to closed stores and beggars

A coffee shop on Hamra Street in Beirut. The street has changed dramatically over the years, reflecting one of the three biggest financial crashes globally since the 1850s. All photos by AP

Michel Eid, 88, works in his music shop on Hamra street. Mr Eid has witnessed the rise and fall of Lebanon through the changing fortunes of this famed boulevard for more than 60 years.

People pass in front of a beggar, centre, on Hamra Street. Fuelled by massive debt and the unsustainable way it was financed, the crisis has slashed Lebanon's gross domestic product by 58.1% since 2019, the World Bank said.

Naim Saleh, who sells newspapers, magazines and books. Mr Saleh said business has dropped dramatically - he used to sell 50 books a day, compared with only about two a month now.

Shoppers pass next of a masks street vendor who sits on the ground next a shop that close for ever after the economy crisis, at the commercial Hamra Street, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Hamra Street once was home to the region's top movie theaters, shops selling international brands and cafes where intellectuals from around the Arab world gathered. Today, it reflects Lebanon's devastating multiple crises, with shuttered stores, beggars and piles of trash on the corners. (AP Photo / Hussein Malla)

Hamra Street once was home to the region's top movie theatres, shops selling international brands and cafes where intellectuals from around the Arab world gathered.

A man passes next to old movie projectors placed outside a theatre in Hamra Street. The projectors were used in the past at the movie theatre once known as Saroula.

Today, Hamra Street reflects Lebanon's devastating multiple crises, with closed stores, beggars and piles of trash on the corners.

Beggars sit in front of shops that have been closed since the economic crisis.

A sign from an old clothes shop set by Hamra Merchants Committee.

Michel Eid in his music shop.

Elie Rbeiz, 70, a hairdresser at his shop in Hamra Street. Mr Rbeiz expanded his business 20 years ago to include men clothes. "Hamra is not the Hamra of the past," he said. His business has dropped 60% over the past two years.

In January, the World Bank blasted Lebanon's ruling class for "orchestrating" one of the world's worst national economic depressions due to their exploitative grip on resources.

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