Here’s Everything We Know About the Syrian Child Pulled From Aleppo
Warning: This article contains images readers may find distressing.
وزارة الدفاع الروسية تمارس العهر الإعلامي بينما تواصل هوايتها بقتل أطفال سورياhttps://t.co/0efcxK8Eb3#AleppoAMC pic.twitter.com/ZlErqcyv9F
— مركز حلب الإعلامي (@AleppoAMC) August 19, 2016
On Wednesday, a military airstrike took place in the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaterji in Syrian city Aleppo. During this particular strike, eight people died, five of whom were children. At least 12 others were injured. Among them, five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, who you see above.
The haunting photo (which is a still from a video released by Aleppo Media Centre) was taken just after Omran was pulled from a collapsing building. According to CNN, it took nearly an hour to dig Omran out from underneath the rubble. During the video shot by Mahmoud Raslan, Omran does not cry or really react at all. Instead, he simply sits in shock covered in rubble and blood.
#Khartoon – Choices #OmranDaqneesh 5 pulled from under the ruins, #AylanKurdi 3 drowned in the Mediterranean #Syria pic.twitter.com/Y4XQgfKgHt
— ALBAIH (@khalidalbaih) August 18, 2016
It has since been discovered that the boy’s sister, three siblings (ages who are one, six and 11-years-old) and parents were also rescued from the building. All of their wounds were minor. Omran was taken to a hospital known as “M10,” treated for his head wounds and has since been released.
Mahmoud Raslan recently penned a firsthand account of Wednesday night for the Telegraph. In the article, he recounts what it was like to film Omran. He writes, “I thought of my seven-day-old baby girl. I thought to myself it could be her. It could be any child in Aleppo or Syria […] Today when I woke up to see the whole world using the photo and talking about it I thought to myself, I hope all photos of children and attacks in Syria go viral so the world knows what life is like here.”
Omran’s case is tragic but sadly not uncommon. More than seven million Syrian children have been affected by the war. Head over to Save the Children’s website to see how you can help the crisis.
What image from the war in Syria has stuck with you most? Share with us on Twitter @britandco.