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The war continues...
People run following a reported government air strike on the rebel-controlled town of Hamouria, Syria.: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April
2017
A Syrian man runs for cover following a reported government air strike on the rebel-controlled town of Hamouria. #AFP: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY,
4 April
2017
Death toll in Syria 'gas attack' rises to 58 in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun #AFP @AbdDoumany: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017
A young victim of a suspected chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, Syria, is treated at a small hospital in Maaret al-Numan: photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP, 4 April 2017
'The first thing that hits you is the smell': Omar Haj Kadour and Mohamed Al-Bakour, AFP, 4 April 2017
Khan Sheikhun -- When news came that there had been a suspected chemical attack in a rebel-held northwestern town of Khan Sheikhun in Syria, AFP photographers Omar Haj Kadour and Mohamed Al-Bakour rushed to the hospitals in the area. Here is what they found.
Mohamed: When I get to the hospital, a foul smell hangs over the place. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Children are lying on beds and medics are frantically trying to save them. It’s a small hospital in Maaret al-Numan, where I live, about 15 kilometers from Khan Sheikhun where the attack took place. They are putting oxygen masks on the children. It’s mayhem -- the children crying, the medics barking orders. I decide to focus on the children. To convey just how horrendous this crime is.
Syrian children receive treatment at a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman following a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syria'’s northwestern Idlib province, on April 4, 2017.: photo by Mohamed Al-Bakour/AFP, 4 April 2017
Omar: I am in the
town of Binnish, about 75 kilometers away when I hear about the attack. I
hear that it may have been a chemical attack. When I get to the main
hospital in Khan Sheikhun, the first thing that strikes me is the smell.
There is a strange smell. I can’t put my finger on it.
There is a strange smell. I can’t put my finger on it.
The first thing I see when I come in
is a man with a girl. The medics are trying to treat her. But they
can’t, because she is dead.
Syrian children receive treatment at a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman following a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syria'’s northwestern Idlib province, on April 4, 2017.: photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP, 4 April 2017
photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP, 4 April 2017
I take pictures of her face, of the details around her. Her father is devastated. He is sobbing. I keep taking pictures.
photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP, 4 April 2017
Mohamed: I take pictures
of the children in front of me. They are dying and they are shivering --
from fear, from the lack of oxygen, from the effects of the chemicals. I
feel helpless. There is nothing that I can do for them. This is a
secondary hospital, it’s not equipped to deal with the really serious
cases. The really serious cases are given first aid and taken to the
main one in Khan Sheikhun, which has the equipment to deal with them.
I have an older brother, who has a
two-year-old boy. What if it were him on the table in front of me? I
tell myself to stop thinking such things. If I start thinking such
things, I won’t be able to do my job. And my job is to take pictures. To
cover this attack. To show this horrendous crime to the world.
photo by Mohamed Al-Bakour/AFP, 4 April 2017
Omar: I photograph a
woman’s body outside the hospital. I see her face. Seems obvious to me
that this is a chemical attack. I remember the last attack that I
photographed. It looks the same. The foam around her mouth.
Bodies lie in the parking area of a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, following a suspected toxic gas attack on April 4, 2017.: photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP, 4 April 2017
I think most about the children. I
think about my nephews, my sister’s kids. They are the only family that I
have left in Binnish, where I live. My sister fears for her boys and
for her newborn girl. What if God forbid it was them here.
I am taking pictures when I hear a
blast. Debris comes crashing down at the entrance of the hospital, where
medics are dousing the arriving patients to wash away chemical residue.
We all rush to get out of the rubble. Luckily we all make it out alive.
'The first thing that hits you is the smell' - covering suspect #chemical attack in #syria Photo Mohamed Al-Bakour @AFPblogs: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017
'Beyond evil'
'Beyond evil' - Strong portrait of @KaramAlmasri25 in today's @libe: image via Stephane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 4 April 2017
Saint Petersburg metro closes all stations after blast #AFP photo taken today at Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg.: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 3 April 2017
Russia confirms suicide bomber suspected in metro attack #AFP Flowers inside the Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg.: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017
Syria: suspected chemical attack kills dozens in Idlib province: Martin Chulov / Kareem Shaheen, The Guardian, 5 April 2017
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