Farouq Salou

Farouq grew up in Halab with nine brothers and two sisters. He was kind, loving, and never hurt anyone.

Farouq was married twice. He had a daughter from a first marriage that did not last long. With his second wife, he had two boys and three girls. He was a good father and family man, and he tried, working as a carpenter, to provide the opportunity of a bright future for his children. But due to the worsening economic conditions in his home country, he moved to settle in Lebanon fifteen years ago, leaving his family in Syria. Later, when the war in Syria started, his family followed him to Lebanon and settled in Amchit, while he lived in Nabaa.

On the horrific August 4, 2020, his son Mohamed who worked in Achrafieh, drove down to Nabaa to pick him up and drop him off at work in a carpentry workshop in Saifi area. He called him to ask him to get ready but he didn’t answer. Mohamed thought his father was sleeping and taking the day off, so he went straight to Achrafieh. On his way there, he received a voice note from Farouq telling him he didn’t hear the phone ring and that he will go to work.

At 5:00 PM, Mohamed was driving back home when he called his dad to check on him, Farouq was still at work. After the Beirut blast, his family was worried; Farouq, who was supposed to be home by 5:45 PM, still did not make it back. They called him, but to no avail.

Farouq's brother went to his workplace but did not find him. An hour later, his son Mohamed went to look for his dad. He checked different hospitals, but did not find him. They kept searching for him for two days, until they saw his name on social media, in a list of victims found at Rafic Hariri University Hospital.

His family went to the hospital's morgue, and it was Mohamed's most difficult task to identify his father's body. Farouq died of a head trauma that killed him instantly.