The boy, identified by medical workers as Omran Daqneesh, 5, was pulled from a damaged building after a Syrian government or Russian airstrike in the northern city of Aleppo. Within minutes of being posted by witnesses and journalists, a photograph and a video of Omran began rocketing around the world on social media. That is not unusual, medical workers say, in a city where some dead and injured children cannot even be identified because they are brought in alone. Bombings bring so many patients at once that doctors treat them on the floor, and hospitals and medical workers have been systematically targeted in the war. On Thursday morning, journalists from around the world were clamoring in an online chat group for more information about Omran and his family.

Source: New York Times August 18, 2016 12:35 UTC