Wednesday 5 April 2017

The war continues: "There is a strange smell. I can't put my finger on it... I keep taking pictures." / Missing Persons (I'm not there)

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 Syrian child receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, following an attack on April 4, 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.

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.

An unconscious Syrian child receives treatment at 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 take pictures of her face, of the details around her. Her father is devastated. He is sobbing. I keep taking pictures.

An unconscious Syrian child is carried at 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

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.

A Syrian child receives 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 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

Two women react at a symbolic memorial at Technologicheskiy Institute subway station in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. A bomb blast tore through a subway train deep under Russia's second-largest city St. Petersburg Monday, killing several people and wounding many more in a chaotic scene that left victims sprawled on a smoky platform.: photo by (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky/AP, 4 April 2017

Demonstrators fight with Venezuelan National Police officers during clashes between opposition members and police forces in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Venezuelan riot police have launched pepper spray and tear gas to disperse an angry crowd of several thousand anti-government demonstrators trying to make their way to congress in Caracas.: photo by Fernando Llano/AP, 4 April 2017

A magazine featuring U.S. President Donald Trump is on display with Chinese military magazines at a newsstand in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. President Donald Trump's upcoming summit with China's leader will be closely watched for signs of how relations between the world's top two economies will proceed as they tackle weighty questions over trade, North Korea and the South China Sea.: photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP, 4 April 2017

President Donald Trump listens to a question during a town hall with business leaders in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Tuesday, April 4, 2017.: photo by Evan Vucci/AP, 4 April 2017

President Trump re attack in St. Petersburg: “Terrible. Terrible thing. Happening all over the world. Absolutely a terrible thing." #Sisi: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 3 April 2017

Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn listens as @mike_pence delivers remarks to CEOs during town hall meeting re U.S. business climate.: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 4 April 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 15 June 2016

[Untitled]: photo by hajdu tamas, 11 March 2017

Iraqis walk past a damaged building as they leave Mosul's Old City. Photo @gharabli_ahmad: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017

Clashes as Venezuelans protest in political crisis #AFP #Caracas today. Photo @jbarreto1974: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017

More than 270 dead in Colombia mudslides # AFP Photo taken in Mocoa by @LuisRobayo #ColombiaMudSlide: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 4 April 2017