Jantaris (Syria): Nasser Al Waqas survived the earthquake that rocked Syria. His family survived the ravages of the civil war, but there was no escape when the earth shook.
The hearts of Waqas and the onlookers were broken when the rescue workers pulled out the lifeless bodies of his wife and children one by one from the ruins of the destroyed house. As he received the dead bodies of the children with trembling hands, he prayed only one thing, “God, please spare at least one of my children…!!”. God left him two sons. But what was lost was not one or two, but six children – three boys and three girls, along with a wife.
He was helplessly calling each of his children by name from the ruins of their home in Jantaris, which was destroyed by Monday’s earthquake. Bilal, Faisal, Meshal, Muhsin, Mansoor, Hiba, Isra, Sameeha… the escaped neighbors were comforting him. In the end, the rescue workers returned the two children alive to Nasser Al Waqas, but the seven people who were with them were crushed in the debris.
He was sobbing with his face buried in the clothes of one of the dead babies. The rescue workers might only helplessly watch the heartbroken father’s screams.