[VIDEO] Syrian Boy Runs Through Sniper Fire, Fakes His Death And Saves A Young Girl
A Syrian boy pretends to get shot while snipers fire at him. He then gets up and is able to rescue a girl trapped behind a car while sniper shots ring out.
By Sadho Ram — 12 Nov 2014, 05:56 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
UPDATE: It turns out, the whole video was a stunt, directed by a Norwegian director, to make people into believing it was real
A YouTube video has emerged, purporting to show a young Syrian boy dodging a shower of bullets by faking his own death to rescue a young girl trapped in the middle of the shoot-out. In the video, the boy initially appears to be lying on the ground amidst gunfire.
Seconds later, he is then seen getting up and running towards the burnt out shell of a car. As he runs, he is seemingly hit by sniper fire. He stumbles and collapses to the ground, apparently dead.
Then he gets up and keeps running, as bullets are flying, determined to make it to the car. He emerges with a terrified girl, who looks no older then 8, dressed in pink. Hand in hand, they run for their lives. Both of them appear to survive the ordeal.
While it is not known where the footage was taken or what happened to either child after the incident, the video was posted by the anti-regime Shaam News Network. According to The WorldPost, activists from the media group distribute videos and photographs taken by Syrian citizen journalists.
Shaam News Network says on YouTube that the harrowing moment was captured in Syria, although it gives no details about where or when exactly. The dialect spoken in the clip, as well as the landscape, point to it taking place in Syria, though some have questioned whether the scene was staged. It is not clear from the video who is shooting at the children.
While the authenticity of the video has not yet been independently verified, some reports suggest the events within it could have been staged, with doubts cast over the moment the boy appears to be shot
Charlie Winter, a researcher at counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, told The Independent there is no real way of knowing at this stage if the video is real. He said it is also difficult to ascertain if the shooters are government troops or militant fighters.
He said: “It’s fast becoming something that people will refer to as a video that sums up the conflict in Syria. But at this stage, I would hesitate to say whether it is legitimate or not."