A "heartbreaking" video of young woman Tatyana Wakim, who fell victim to stray bullets in Lebanon, has gone viral on social media. A friend of the late Tatyana shared a video on his Facebook account, stating it was filmed just minutes before her tragic passing. In the video, Tatyana can be seen singing and dancing just moments before the incident in the restaurant, engaging with the song "Before I Leave, I Missed You."
Family friend Tony Mallouli commented on the video, saying: "Before you leave in a few minutes, we will miss you. May God have mercy on you, Tatyana. We will pray for you. This country has become a place where a person can be lost to a bullet." Mallouli recounted that after they had a family lunch together, he decided to leave the restaurant shortly before the altercation occurred with his children.
Mallouli added, "I learned about the altercation where we were sitting; I couldn't believe it, but I soon learned that a bullet had struck Tatyana's heart. She was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors tried to save her, but it was futile.” He mentioned that “anyone in the restaurant was at risk of death. I, for example, was sitting next to Tatyana, and if I had stayed, I might have been lost too.”
Regarding his communication with the victim’s fiancé or any other family member after the incident, Mallouli said, "Yes, I contacted Tatyana's fiancé's mother, who informed me of her eternal departure."
An eyewitness and friend of the deceased told Sky News Arabia that "an individual altercation took place in a restaurant, which escalated outside, where someone fired a bullet into the air and another towards the restaurant. It pierced the ceiling and struck Tatyana, resulting in her immediate death."
The witness added, "The argument began after changing the music in the restaurant from artistic to political, which upset some local families who frequent the restaurant with their children."
He explained that “the restaurant was crowded, including relatives of the late Tatyana and my children, as we were having a weekend lunch looking for joy to escape our daily tragedies. Some left, while a group stayed to smoke shisha, and the late Tatyana was among them after moving seats to smoke in another spot where the bullet struck her.”
After the airing of political songs that provoked some of the disputing patrons, an altercation broke out, causing chaos in the restaurant. Consequently, someone intervened and fired a bullet supposedly to quell the dispute, but one of the bullets struck Tatyana's heart, who was singing joyfully, saying goodbye without warning.
Speaking about Tatyana, the witness said, “She was an ambitious university student studying informatics. She was the only girl among two brothers, managing the household with help from her sick and bedridden mother for years, while also supporting her fiancé who runs a mobile phone shop. Her only 'crime' was deciding to spend the weekend with her family and friends at a family restaurant, hosting relatives who had flown in from Dubai to see her.”
Tatyana is scheduled to be laid to rest on Monday amid great anger and sorrow in Lebanon over the pervasive issue of uncontrolled firearms everywhere, even within closed venues like restaurants.
