Syrian dies of swallowing gasoline in fuel-strapped Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s national news agency says a Syrian man has died after swallowing gasoline he was siphoning out of his vehicle’s tank with a plastic tube. The agency said Saturday the young man in the northern Lebanese town of Bhannine died in the hospital where he was transferred after swallowing the gasoline from his vehicle’s tank. Lebanon is witnessing a paralyzing fuel shortage that has driven the public to hoard gasoline and resort to black-market vendors. Many businesses have shut down. A diesel shortage has also caused extended blackouts. Peddlers selling gasoline on the street in plastic bottles became ubiquitous.