Gulf Today Report

Normally, the White Helmets, a band of volunteers known officially as Syria Civil Defence, often help in saving people trapped under the debris of bombed-out buildings in Syria. However, this time they had an entirely different kind of mission.

A four-year-old girl, Sumaya, had fallen into a dry well on the outskirts of the northern Syrian town of Al-Bab in Aleppo. A video showed them getting down to action in and around the well.

Sumaya had reportedly been playing with her cousin near the well when she fell and the boy was unable to save her on his own. The rescue team took two hours to bring her to safety.

Interestingly, she was reportedly crying for her doll as she was being rescued.

The White Helmets was established as a rescue service in rebel-held areas of Syria.

“The White Helmets volunteers have witnessed the unthinkable massacres of innocent people, dead children, the victims of chemical weapons attacks,” said its spokeswoman Mirren Gidda.

However, sometimes, their mission takes an unexpected twist, as happened in Sumaya's case.