The story of a Syrian refugee child who died after being chased by police patrol in Beirut has been taking social media by storm.

A 14-year-old boy, named Ahmad Zoubi has reportedly died after falling down a 6-storey stairwell while trying to run away from a municipal police patrol who chased him for allegedly stealing money from a donations box near a mosque.

Despite the Lebanese police denial of being involved in his death, a CCTV footage of the mosque near the scene was shared on Facebook.

It showed Ahmad fleeing from a police patrol before disappearing into an alleyway. Shortly after, the police were seen leaving the scene without the kid who was found dead three days later.

Ahmad, who worked as a “shoe shiner” in Beirut street, was supporting his refugee family who fled Syria to Lebanon.

The story has ignited anger among Lebanese public and activists. Police was accused of leaving the kid injured in the scene without seeking medical help and the accusations are rising given the Lebanese police history of violence and racism against children working on the streets; especially refugee kids.

Translation: “Did you hear about Ahmed Zoubi, the Syrian child who died in Beirut? He was a shoe shiner in Tallet Al-Khayat district in Beirut. A police patrol chased him because Syrians are not allowed to work in Lebanon. He fled them and fell into a 6-storey stairwell. Ahmed died while he is 14 years old.”

On hashtags “I am Ahmad” and “أحمد الزعبي”, activists went to remember Ahmad and demand an investigation into the case to bring the responsible to justice.

In Lebanon, there are over a million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country. However, the difficult conditions they live in have prevented many of their children from entering schools or earning money from streets where they are being harassed and mistreated by authorities as well as the public.

Translation: “After widespread chase and with all their readiness, the Lebanese army forces and Nasrallah forces with security forces were able to kill the Syrian child Ahmad Zoubi considering him the source of the deteriorating economic situation in Lebanon, the waste crisis, the delay in forming the government, the Syrian regime failure to his Bassil Nasrallah [Gebran Bassil and Hassan Nasrallah] barn and the inability to free southern Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, many Lebanese have expressed their disappointment with their country’s racist laws, that complicate the lives of Syrian refugees instead of helping them.

Translation: “The amount of racism that exists in Lebanon has surpassed the racism in many other countries that were known for their racism. God is bigger than all of us.”