Syrian Rescuer, Killed in Airstrike, Felt the Danger
Khaled Harah, ‘White Helmet’ Hero, Described Work in Aleppo
Khaled Harah, a volunteer with Syria’s Civil Defense Force, or “White Helmets,” died in an airstrike in Aleppo last week as he worked to rescue survivors amid the debris of an aerial bombing. In 2014 at USIP, Harah and some of his colleagues described that rescue work, which had brought them to world attention.
In the video below, Harah, seen at right, told of the group’s rescue of a 10-day-old child, quickly called “the miracle baby,” from a building destroyed in a June 2014 air strike. Four months later, in a panel discussion at USIP, Harah recounted that that rescue took 16 hours. He described how their digging was interrupted repeatedly when the team had to withdraw from the rubble because Syrian military aircraft buzzing overhead threatened new strikes. News reports this week say Harah and others were working at just such a bombing site when a follow-up attack killed him.
