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16th Dec 2016

This Channel 4 News report of orphaned children in Aleppo ‘bedlam’ is heartbreaking

"Aleppo is a place where the children have stopped crying."

Rob Burnett

“Aleppo is now a synonym for hell.”

Those were UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s words today when he urged the resumption of the evacuation from Syria’s war-torn city.

And watching this report from Channel 4 News filmmaker Wa’ad al Kateab who, along with husband, a doctor, and their 11-month-old baby girl are trapped in the eastern part of the city after the evacuation was halted, it’s impossible not to agree.

The film shows the area’s last functioning hospital and the heartbreaking scenes of the city’s injured struggling to comprehend their fate.

A distraught woman tells how here entire apartment block collapsed on her and her family after it was shelled.

Meanwhile children are shown around the facility, desperately searching for their parents. As the film says, they do not even know if they are orphans at this point.

 

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/809870599333945344

Some 6,000 civilians and rebels, including 2,700 children, are thought to have left Aleppo since the government recaptured the territory on Thursday, but thousands are still trapped there after the evacuation was stopped when the rebels were accused of breaking the ceasefire.

France’s ambassador to the UN confirmed his country and Germany have called on the Security Council to make sure the evacuation can begin again under the guidance of international observers.

US President Barack Obama said today the world was “united in horror” at the situation.

Topics:

Aleppo