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| Yazidis resting on their way to Syria (Reuters) |
By Jonathan Rugman
They had cried as they laid piled on top of one another when the helicopter took off, abandoning hundreds below who couldn't fit aboard.
One of the airmen began punching and kicking refugees who were besieging the aircraft, in danger of overwhelming it in their battle for a seat.
Daily Mail - I watched yesterday as traumatised children on board an Iraqi military helicopter came under attack from an anti-aircraft gun fired by Islamic State jihadist militants. A machine gunner on board scoured the desert and returned the fire, discharging several rounds into the void beyond. And all around me in the helicopter’s cramped and chaotic space, dehydrated children winced in pain and their exhausted parents burst into tears.
The Kurdish Yazidi refugees being rescued from Mount Sinjar had cried while squeezing through the helicopter’s narrow door when it landed on the mountainside to rescue them, staying for all of five precious minutes.
They had cried as they laid piled on top of one another when the helicopter took off, abandoning hundreds below who couldn’t fit aboard. They sobbed quietly when they realised the stampede was finally over; that the trauma of the last ten days - trapped on a mountain in thirty to forty degree heat with almost nothing - was behind them. And now, amid this machine gun fire, they were crying again.
They had cried as they laid piled on top of one another when the helicopter took off, abandoning hundreds below who couldn’t fit aboard. They sobbed quietly when they realised the stampede was finally over; that the trauma of the last ten days - trapped on a mountain in thirty to forty degree heat with almost nothing - was behind them. And now, amid this machine gun fire, they were crying again.
Thousands of feet up in the air, and still Iraq’s Yazidis, a people driven to the brink of extermination, could not call themselves safe. Looking down, I saw stick-thin figures seeking sanctuary in the middle of nowhere, carrying only the clothes on their backs, signalling to us that they were desperate for food and water.
We saw hundreds of people; infants in arms and the elderly sheltering under trees in the few places where they could find them. One family was camping in a dry river bed under a simple blue tarpaulin. How many are trapped is impossible to say. But in searing heat, the sun beating down, it was clear to me that hundreds would die within days without more help.
We saw hundreds of people; infants in arms and the elderly sheltering under trees in the few places where they could find them. One family was camping in a dry river bed under a simple blue tarpaulin. How many are trapped is impossible to say. But in searing heat, the sun beating down, it was clear to me that hundreds would die within days without more help.
Our Iraqi pilot claimed that none of the aid dropped by British and American aircraft in the past few days had reached the people he was helping. His men weren’t dropping pallets from a great height but risking their lives by flying in low.
From about 100ft up, we started throwing out bottles of water and boxes of food. I feared that many would break open or smash on rocks, but the helicopter had many rounds to make and did not stop to check.
From about 100ft up, we started throwing out bottles of water and boxes of food. I feared that many would break open or smash on rocks, but the helicopter had many rounds to make and did not stop to check.
Then we landed on a rare space of flat ground and the awful scramble to get aboard began. There was space for only 25 refugees and if there was anybody on the ground organising this evacuation, it wasn’t working. As the crew tried throwing out more cardboard boxes, old men travelling in the opposite direction angrily thrust them aside. At one point one of the airmen began punching and kicking refugees who were besieging the aircraft, in danger of overwhelming it in their battle for a seat.
I found myself picking up drooping and dehydrated children, taking them to the back of the helicopter to recover. I saw a toddler trapped under several people until her hysterical mother dragged her to safety. Helicopters in flight are noisy places. But in my head, I can still hear the sobbing of those lucky enough to escape yesterday. And I can see the others too: a desperate crush of humanity, screaming at us for mercy, but never making it aboard.
Jonathan Rugman is Foreign Affairs Correspondent at Channel 4 News
Source - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2722362/I-hear-screams-children-left-says-JONATHAN-RUGMAN.html
C130 cargo plane had been due to make a second drop of UK aid in Iraq
Tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians trapped in horrific conditions
Hercules could not find clear space to safely parachute down aid bundles
Another humanitarian flight expected to come early today on Mount Sinjar
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Yazidi families desperate looking for their lost children
The loss of loved ones adds even more suffering to people who spent days stranded in the Sinjar mountains under a blazing son with barely any food or water.
Some of the missing may have been gunned down by militants during the escape. Others were lost as families scattered in panic under gunfire from extremists chasing them into the mountains.
Dizzy from thirst, some adults lost track of children in the crowds in the mountains. Some women may have been abducted by militants, and Iraqi and U.S. officials say they believe hundreds of women are being held captive by the radical Islamic State group.
'There are many missing, many,' said Naji Khano, who lost his 17-year-old son Sherwan as he fled gunmen.
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RAF forced to ABORT humanitarian aid drop because there were too many hungry Yazidi refugees crowding under the plane
Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2721873/RAF-forced-ABORT-humanitarian-aid-drop-desperate-Yazidi-refugees-crowding-plane.html
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