Finding the Truth Amongst the Fakes

a group of Syrian American physicians focused on providing medical relief to
the war-torn country. 4 Dr. Ghanem corroborated Khalid’s identity, describing
him as a nurse anaesthesiologist. He said that Khalid had been vetted through
SAMS’s network and his contacts in Zabadani, a town neighbouring Madaya,
where Dr. Ghanem used to live. According to Dr. Ghanem, Khalid was from
Idlib, but had been living in Madaya for four years, where he worked in the field
hospital. He explained that SAMS had set up a WhatsApp number for Khalid
to share videos showing the situation in Madaya, to get the word out about the
worsening conditions.
Our only other contact in Madaya, the Facebook page Madaya, also said they
knew of Khalid and that he was originally from Idlib.
Storyful called Khalid to confirm that he had filmed the video. The man who
answered the phone sounded familiar. It was the same voice as in the video
with Mohammed, speaking an educated Arabic rather than the distinctive,
broad Madayan accent. Khalid said that he filmed the videos and shared them
to the hospital’s Facebook page.
The situation was terrible, Khalid said. Children and old people were dying of
malnutrition and dehydration, and the few medical supplies left could not cope
with the crisis.
Khalid was able to explain the discrepancy in the floor tiles, saying that there
were two hospitals in Madaya - one for daily cases and the other for operations
and intensive care. The operations, he said, were done in the facility with the
green and white floors, whereas the starving people and ordinary patients were
4
To access the SAMS report on starvation in Madaya, please go to:
https://goo.gl/w0lty2
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