Plucked from the jaws of death

Covered in dust and struggling for air, the pair survived the bombing in Saqba, eastern Ghouta, which activists claim left two people dead.

Half buried in the stone and dust, the man uses his free arm to remove small amounts of dirt obstructing the movement in his lower body. 

Three other residents attempt to help him out whilst most of the rescue staff focus on digging out the young boy.

Slowly, the boy's upper body comes free and one of the rescuers manages to free his small arms.

Badly distressed by the traumatic event, the boy can be heard shouting in pain as the men continue to dig him out.

Several large cinderblocks and other larger chunks of rubble are removed from around the boy, before the camera pans to the bloodied arm and barely recognisable face of the man. 

The astonishing rescue was captured on film and widely circulated on social media.

On Sunday Assad forces bombarded the rebel-held area of eastern Ghouta killing 15 civilians, including six children.

More than 12,000 children have been left orphaned in eastern Ghouta since the war began four years ago, according to Yasin Abu-Ratib, director of an orphanage in Adalah, Syria. 

'Only about 7,000 orphans receive fixed monthly allowances while 5,000 are deprived of any financial assistance,' he told Anadolu agency.

Regime barrel bombs - crude weapons made of containers packed with explosives - have often hit schools, hospitals and markets in Syria.

Rights groups criticise them as indiscriminate, saying they kill a disproportionate number of civilians.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied that his forces use barrel bombs, but evidence collected by activists and rights groups includes footage of the barrels being pushed from helicopters.

Human Rights Watch has also said there is 'strong evidence' the regime has dropped barrel bombs containing toxic chemicals on northern Syria.

More than 240,000 people have been killed since Syria's civil war began in March 2011 and half of the country's population has been displaced by the fighting. 

(dailymail.co.uk)-