William Azar

For the love of Lebanon, William turned down every job opportunity to work abroad, and preferred to return to his home country to live with his parents; he was also planning to get engaged to his Ukrainian girlfriend Anna who became, thanks to him, as fond of Lebanon as he was.

William was born to a Lebanese father and a Ukrainian mother; two years later his brother Christophe was born. The two siblings got on perfectly, they studied together, had fun, and played chess. He had a happy childhood, William was a cute, bright, cultured boy. He earned a degree in Financial Audit from The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, and was recruited by "Deloitte" for a job opportunity in Abu Dhabi. He worked there for a while but decided to return to Lebanon, as he cared less about financial gain, and wanted to be with his family. After his return he worked at KPMG Lebanon.

William was an outstanding character. He was fun, generous, helpful, kind, and forever happy.  He loved life, and travelled many times with his mother to her hometown Kiev, to meet with his maternal family. He also travelled the world with his fiancée, but always put Lebanon above every other country.

On the fateful Tuesday August 4, William reported to work just like he did every day. At 5:30 PM his father and fiancée arrived to pick him up. On their way home, William asked his father if they could pass by the bank in Achrafieh. Meanwhile, a fire at the Port of Beirut erupted, followed by a first explosion that created so much pressure in the car. He looked in the backseat to check on his fiancée. At the second, earth-shattering blast, a huge piece of marble hit the car's roof, directly injuring William who died instantly, in front of his father and fiancée, who surprisingly survived.  His father cannot forgive himself for parking the car in that spot, and his fiancée still sheds tears of mourning for his loss… His family is heartbroken yearning to see him one more time!