Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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After the Iraqi Army pushed the Islamic State out of Mosul, one brave crew of twelve men rushes into the ruins to rescue the living and recover the dead. John Beck joined them as they excavate tragedy in order to bring their city back to life.
The only firefighters in West Mosul, Iraq, switched on the siren as they drove a battered red truck through the ruins of their city. It was the morning of April 16, and they led a small convoy along roads gouged by bombs and partially blocked by collapsed buildings. The fighting was finished in this neighborhood, and the only other vehicles around were mangled wrecks. But the siren was an old habit, and it felt good to be back at work.
The firefighters, members of what is known in Iraq as the Civil Defense, parked by a colossal crater, and their chief, 47-year-old Colonel Rabie Ibrahim Hassan, started out on foot up an unpaved side street. Skinny, square-jawed Mohammed Shabaan hurried after him, clutching a small notebook. Around a dozen other men followed, guiding a crane and frontloader almost too large to fit between the buildings.
It had rained for weeks, but the day broke dry and hot and the now-still air smelled of corpses. The men pulled cheap surgical masks or respirators over their faces as they walked. They stopped in front of a heap of concrete and metal that had once been a pink two-story house. The background of gunfire and thud of mortar shells was louder here, as Iraqi forces clawed back ground from ISIS after an almost three-year occupation. Nobody seemed to notice the noise; it had been that way for months.
First in was Salih Jumma, the team's bomb-defusal expert. He had once been an enthusiastic brawler and was widely known by a nickname that roughly translates as "the hard man." Now 43, he was still strong, heaving aside chunks of concrete that others struggled to move in pairs.
The Men Who Rescue Mosul’s Dead
This is a lengthy article on the firefighters that I thought was interesting.
The only firefighters in West Mosul, Iraq, switched on the siren as they drove a battered red truck through the ruins of their city. It was the morning of April 16, and they led a small convoy along roads gouged by bombs and partially blocked by collapsed buildings. The fighting was finished in this neighborhood, and the only other vehicles around were mangled wrecks. But the siren was an old habit, and it felt good to be back at work.
The firefighters, members of what is known in Iraq as the Civil Defense, parked by a colossal crater, and their chief, 47-year-old Colonel Rabie Ibrahim Hassan, started out on foot up an unpaved side street. Skinny, square-jawed Mohammed Shabaan hurried after him, clutching a small notebook. Around a dozen other men followed, guiding a crane and frontloader almost too large to fit between the buildings.
It had rained for weeks, but the day broke dry and hot and the now-still air smelled of corpses. The men pulled cheap surgical masks or respirators over their faces as they walked. They stopped in front of a heap of concrete and metal that had once been a pink two-story house. The background of gunfire and thud of mortar shells was louder here, as Iraqi forces clawed back ground from ISIS after an almost three-year occupation. Nobody seemed to notice the noise; it had been that way for months.
First in was Salih Jumma, the team's bomb-defusal expert. He had once been an enthusiastic brawler and was widely known by a nickname that roughly translates as "the hard man." Now 43, he was still strong, heaving aside chunks of concrete that others struggled to move in pairs.
The Men Who Rescue Mosul’s Dead
This is a lengthy article on the firefighters that I thought was interesting.
