Heartbreaking photo of a dazed young boy draws attention to Aleppo
He sits in the back of an ambulance apparently unaware of the blood covering his face.
Dazed, dusty and confused, it takes several seconds for five-year-old Omran Daqneesh to put his hand to his head to check the wound he sustained during ongoing fighting in Aleppo, Syria.
His photo, and video of him being loaded into the emergency vehicle, was shared widely on social media Wednesday as the human toll of the conflict was thrown again into stark relief.
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Raf Sanchez, a correspondent for the Telegraph, shared his image on Twitter.
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Sanchez also posted a picture of the boy after he'd received treatment for the wound.
In a video uploaded to YouTube by activist organization the Aleppo Media Group, the shocked child can be seen taken from a building into the ambulance and left on the chair before being taken to the hospital.
Activists said that multiple airstrikes targeted the opposition-held neighborhood of al-Qaterji late in the evening local time Wednesday, Storyful reports. Three people were reportedly killed and several others, including at least two children, were injured.
The small boy was taken to the M10 hospital, the Telegraph reports, where he was cleaned, had his head injury treated and later released. Some 12 other children were reportedly treated at the M10 facility, which has itself been struck by airstrikes, on Wednesday.
The eastern part of Aleppo has been held by rebel groups since 2012 but has been subjected to a Russian-backed government siege.
Doctors Without Borders warned of hospitals being hit by airstrikes in late July, saying that four facilities they provide with medical supplies were hit in one week alone.
On Wednesday, the father of a two-year-old girl apparently hit by a chlorine gas attack said "the world has turned its back on Syria."
Earlier this month, the last doctors remaining in Aleppo wrote an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama saying: "We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers. We need action."
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
