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Syria White Helmets Rescue Boy Dangling From Bombed Aleppo Building

Dramatic video posted by opposition activists shows the apparent rescue of a boy dangling from the second floor of a ruined building in Aleppo.
Image: Dramatic rescue in Aleppo
Video posted by the Aleppo Media Center activist group purports to show a dust-covered by being rescued by volunteers.Aleppo Media Center via Reuters

Dramatic video showing the apparent rescue of a dust-covered boy dangling from the second floor of a ruined building in Aleppo has been circulated by Syria opposition activists.

The footage, posted by the Aleppo Media Center activist group, purports to show volunteers carrying out Sunday night's rescue.

The boy seems to be secured only by his legs, which were wedged in the rubble of the partially pancaked structure in Aleppo's Qaterji neighborhood.

At first it is not clear if he has survived the attack, but his head is seen moving in response to shouts and rescuers below and the glare of their torches.

Crews move a cherry-picker into position and slide a ladder under the boy, who is eventually freed from the rubble to jubilant shouts of "allahu akbar" — meaning "God is the greatest" in Arabic.

The White Helmets, a volunteer group that was part of the rescue, said Monday that the child was "well."

NBC News was not able to immediately reach the group, also known as the Syrian Civil Defence, for more information on the boy's identity, age or his condition.

The White Helmets said at least 49 people were killed in more than 40 airstrikes on Aleppo Sunday, and another 40 on Monday. Among those killed were 14 people — including eight children — from the same family in the Al Marja neighborhood, the group said.

Related: Behind the Grim Numbers: How These 9 Kids Died in Aleppo

Syria and Russia have escalated airstrikes on the eastern, rebel-held half of Aleppo in recent weeks, following the collapse of a cease-fire brokered by Washington and Moscow.

Russia announced Tuesday that airstrikes would stop ahead of an eight-hour "humanitarian pause" on Thursday, allowing opposition fighters, the sick and injured to evacuate the city.