The Daily Star BEIRUT: A number of Lebanese expatriates working in Kazakhstan are set to arrive in Beirut Tuesday afternoon after they were involved in a brawl at their workplace last week, a source from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said. “The plane is supposed to leave around 5 or 6 [a.m. Tuesday],” the source told The Daily Star. As of Monday night, the list of Lebanese expats returning from Kazakhstan was being finalized. At least 10 Lebanese nationals had been injured in the bloody altercation, which took place Saturday. A Middle East Airlines plane would depart to charter the expats. With no direct flights between Nur-Sultan and Beirut, the flight time is estimated at around four and half hours. Lebanese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Giscard El Khoury was unable to be reached for comment prior to print.

Khoury Sunday met with a number of the employees, who worked at Consolidated Contractors, a construction company in western Kazakhstan, the state-run National News Agency reported. He said all were in good health and “high spirits,” according to the NNA. The ambassador’s message was relayed to the head of the Higher Relief Committee, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Kheir. The fight reportedly broke out after a Lebanese employee shared a photo of himself and a female Kazakh employee that local staff deemed offensive. However, Nurlan Nogayev, the governor of the Atyrau region, said that disparities between local staff and foreign workers had sparked the incident. Videos posted to social media showed Kazakh workers violently beating others, who were expats. Jordanian nationals and Palestinians were also among the attacked.