Beirut (AFP)

The Lebanese Minister of Health announced on Sunday the opening of an investigation after the death of an infant whose family says he did not have access to necessary care, a case which arouses anger in this country. full collapse.

Jouri al-Sayyid, 10 months old, died on Saturday in Mazboud, a village southeast of the capital Beirut, after three days of high fever and inflammation in the lung.

According to the baby's uncle, Aymen al-Sayyid, her niece died "from lack of proper care and medication" at the hospital where her family had taken her.

"Medicines were not available at the hospital so his father went to the pharmacy to buy some, but it was closed," he told AFP.

Many pharmacies have lowered their curtains since Friday to protest against drug shortages in the country which, according to the World Bank, has been experiencing one of the worst economic crises in the world since 1850.

"We live in a country where hospitals do not have drugs and where pharmacies are closed," sighs Mr. Sayyid.

Mazboud Hospital said in a statement that little Jouri had "received complete and appropriate treatment, including all necessary medication," and that she died within hours of being discharged from the hospital.

The infant left the hospital without doctors being consulted, Dr. Kamal Mourad told AFP.

Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Sunday promised to open an investigation into the circumstances of the death, which sparked anger on social media.

Many Internet users see it as one of the many consequences of the collapse of the country, where shortages of fuel, electricity, medicines and other basic necessities are on the increase.

It is now almost impossible to get hold of simple pain relievers or baby formula.

In a video widely shared online, Jouri al-Sayyid's father is seen carrying his child's body wrapped in a cloth in his arms and asking reporters, "Who do I complain to? the country?".

An association of drug importers has been warning for weeks that Lebanon will soon run out of "hundreds of basic drugs for chronic diseases".

On Sunday, the pharmacists' union decided to interrupt its strike for two days to give the authorities a chance to find a solution.

© 2021 AFP