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National dailies splash on iconic picture of Syrian boy in ambulance, declaring him ‘new face of tragic war’

By Freddy Mayhew

The image of a Syrian boy sat in an ambulance, caked in dust and blood after being rescued from a building hit by an air strike, has appeared on the front page of several national newspapers.

The photo was taken by Al Jazeera Mubasher journalist Mahmoud Raslan following a bomb attack in the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaterji, Aleppo, on Wednesday.

The child has been identified as five-year-old Omran Daqneesh.

The image, alongside video footage of Omran and other children being rescued from the rubble, has been shared worldwide and reignited calls to stop the raging war in Syria.

The Times splashed on the image alongside the headline: “Boy victim become’s a symbol of Assad’s war”. In its accompanying story the paper said the picture had provided “a new iconic face of a largely unseen tragedy”.

Scottish daily The National ran a full page of the image on its front with the headline: “The face of war”.

The Guardian ran the image with the subheadline: “Picture of injured child becomes new symbol of the horror in Syria”.

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The picture also ran on the front of the Financial Times and the International New York Times.

It has already been compared with that of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi whose body was found on a beach in Turkey after he drowned attempting to cross the sea to Greece.

Taken by 29-year-old photographer Nilufer Demir, 29, the image is credited with changing public opinion on the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe after it was widely published by news outlets.

According to Associated Press, photographer Raslan helped pull children from the rubble and gave Omran to a rescue worker before taking his picture.

“We were passing them from one balcony to the other,” he told the agency, adding he had passed along three lifeless bodies before being handed Omran, who had suffered slight head wounds.

Eight people died in the strike, including five children, according to AP.

The image on today’s national newspaper front pages:

Syrian boy Ambulance - Financial Times Syrian boy Ambulance - The Times Syrian boy Ambulance - The GuardianSyrian boy Ambulance - Int NYT

Syrian boy Ambulance - The National

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