Syrian Girl Saving Baby Sister in Viral Photo Dies at Age 5

A picture of two girls trying to save their sibling dangling from a bombed building in Syria went viral on social media networks. The dust-covered Syrian girls, trapped in the rubble, are seen trying to grab their baby sister from her shirt as she dangles from a bombed-out building. Their father who is seen behind them slaps his hand against his forehead, his mouth gaping in horror as he looks on amid the mangled wreckage.

Check out the picture here:

UPDATE:

The girl shown stuck in the rubble *did* manage to rescue her baby brother.

However, she just passed away in hospital, during surgery. Her brother remains in critical condition.

Their mother & sister were killed. #Idlib #Ariha #Syria https://t.co/bsux6Nq6Qj

— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) July 24, 2019

The picture was captured on Wednesday by Bashar al-Sheikh, a photographer working with local news website SY24, moments after warplanes pummelled the town of Ariha in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib. Of the three girls shown in the photo, one is dead and two are fighting to stay alive.

As reported by a source to AFP, Riham al-Abdullah, 5, who appears in the photo gripping her younger sister’s green shirt, died shortly after the strikes on Wednesday. Her seven-months-old sister Touka, who is shown dangling from the rubble, is in intensive care after suffering wounds to her head. Dalia, the third sister in the photo, is stable after undergoing chest surgery.

Not only Riham but her mother and another sister too died following Wednesday’s raids. The father of the girls broke his legs as he fell trying to save his daughters.

The terrorist-run Idlib region is supposed to be protected by a months-old international truce deal, but it has come under increased bombardment by the government and its ally Russia since late April.

Aid groups have decried a “nightmare” that has slain an alarming amount of children, in the latest bloody episode of Syria’s eight-year civil war.

They were trapprd in the rubble.#Syria #Idlib pic.twitter.com/xjqijSfZE5

— Syrian Coalition (@SyrCoalition) July 26, 2019

The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.

Also Read: British Family Of 12 Who Left UK To Join ISIS In Syria Are Now Dead