Young Girl's Dramatic Rescue as Bombings Bring Death, Destruction to Aleppo

Airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians this week, including children.

ByABC News
November 17, 2016, 6:18 AM

— -- A dramatic scene was captured on video in the war-torn city of Aleppo on Tuesday, when a young girl was rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by an apparent airstrike.

While she escaped with her life -- thanks to the efforts of the White Helmets, a group of volunteer first responders -- the young girl will have a tough road ahead.

She lost four members of her family, including children, a member of the White Helmets in Aleppo, told ABC News.

Those are just a few of the casualties amid a fresh wave of strikes in Aleppo.

At least 78 civilians have been killed, including 10 children, in Aleppo and its western countryside since the Syrian government and its Russian allies on Tuesday kicked off a renewed bombing campaign after several weeks of relative calm.

On Thursday, heavy airstrikes continued to pound the opposition-held part of Aleppo for the third day in a row.

The girl in the video was pinned under the rubble of a destroyed building in Aleppo's Salheen neighborhood and was rescued and brought to a hospital for treatment. The video was released by the Aleppo Media Center, an opposition media group.

“I want water,” the girl says in Arabic in the video after being brought to a clinic.

She appears to remove dirt from her mouth. When asked what her name is, she responds: “Khadiza.”

After she rinses her face and eyes with water, she is asked: “Is there anything left in your eyes?”

A man later asks her to open her eyes and look at him, but she keeps her eyes closed. She is also asked what her older sister's name is. When the girl asks why they want to know, a man responds, "because she is here with me."

Airstrikes have sent wounded civilians like Khadiza streaming into clinics and hospitals even as the city's medical facilities have become bombing targets in recent days.

The Children's Hospital, the Bayan Hospital and the Central Blood Bank were damaged Wednesday morning by barrel bombs, according to local medical staff.

In the past five days, 13 medical facilities have been attacked across northern Syria - that’s one attack every nine hours, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports hospitals in Syria. At least nine medical personnel, including three doctors, were injured over the weekend, and five civilians were killed, SAMS said.

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