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Syrian paramedic's video diary reveals life on the front line

A brave paramedic has lifted the veil and revealed what life is really like on the front line while performing emergency services in war-torn Syria.

The raw video diary posted to social media by a French not-for-profit charity shows the moment a massive explosion sends debris flying into the atmosphere in the middle of a dangerous warzone.

The footage manages to capture the moment a huge section of debris from the blast comes hurtling through the sky, smashes a hole in the windscreen on the vehicle and narrowly misses colliding with the paramedic.

The footage appears to be shot from the passenger seat of an ambulance in the largest city in Syria, Aleppo.

A large piece of debris leaves a significant hole in the windshield of the vechicle. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.
A large piece of debris leaves a significant hole in the windshield of the vechicle. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.

"Allahu Akbar (God is great)," the paramedic shouts as he grabs a stretcher from the back of the ambulance and runs straight into the cloud of dust.

"Someone is injured here."

In the midst of the nail-biting and chaotic vision the paramedic manages to emerge through the dust.

He then discovers a seemingly injured man crawling along the ground.

Additional volunteers and emergency workers appear towards the end of the vision.

The footage appears to be shot from the passenger seat of an ambulance in the largest city in Syria, Aleppo. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.
The footage appears to be shot from the passenger seat of an ambulance in the largest city in Syria, Aleppo. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.

The teams work seamlessly together, bringing several injured patients to the ambulance for treatment.

In the vision a young boy can been seen being carried towards the site.

The footage then shows the paramedic making way for the additional injured and trying to priortise who needs immediate medical attention.


Since the graphic footage has been uploaded to social media it’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

It’s unclear from the post where and when in Aleppo the explosion exactly occurred and if there were any fatalities.

In the vision a young boy can be seen being carried towards the site. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.
In the vision a young boy can be seen being carried towards the site. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.

Only yesterday the United Nations called for a cease fire in the wartorn city as part of a bid to safely deliver aid and food to residents of the region.

The head of the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, Jan Egeland, told reporters that aid agencies were ready to send life-saving supplies to the city's rebel-held eastern districts but raging violence has blocked convoys from deploying.

"Humanitarian convoys are ready, humanitarian workers are ready. We have the supplies. We need a break in the fighting," Egeland said following the weekly meeting of the taskforce co-chaired by Russia, which supports Damascus, and the United States, which backs some rebel groups.

A brave paramedic has lifted the veil and revealed what life is really like on the front line performing emergency services in worn torn Syria. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.
A brave paramedic has lifted the veil and revealed what life is really like on the front line performing emergency services in worn torn Syria. Source: Syria Charity/Facebook.

Egeland urged both powers to pressure their allies to "give us 48 hours every week to be able to go to eastern Aleppo".

"The clock is ticking," he said, describing people in Syria's second city as being "on the brink of starvation".

The crisis in Syria began with anti-government protests in March 2011 before exploding into a civil war that has killed more than 280,000 people.

News break – July 22