This picture, which is actually a screencap taken from video by the Aleppo Media Centre, has reverberated across the internet after a Wednesday airstrike in Syria. The image shows Omran Daqneesh, a 5-year-old boy who was pulled from the rubble of his home. On the way to the hospital, a shell-shocked Dagneesh quietly sits in shock. Covered in dust and blood, he’s seemingly oblivious to his own injuries. It’s a heartbreaking sight and one the New York Times describes as “channeling the mood of Syria.”
The image is making political waves on social media. One user tweeted a clip that shows the boy’s dazed reaction to what he’s experienced, along with Donald Trump’s statement about sending Syrian children home from the war-torn country.
https://twitter.com/sakirkhader/status/766053069058695168
During the raid on the rebel-held district of Qaterji, at least eight people were killed, including five children. NBC News reports that Daqneesh suffered head wounds but no brain injury, and he was transported taken to the hospital with his three siblings and parents. The Telegraph‘s Raf Sanchez confirms his parents survived, although the severity of their injuries is not known at this time. The family’s home collapsed shortly after the rescue operation.
Here’s the full video segment mentioned above, which shows the Dagneesh family being rescued. The content is somewhat graphic and bloody.
(Via ABC News, New York Times and Aleppo Media Centre)