In a grimy workshop in Damascus, Muhammad Al Qalaaji, 48, is grief-stricken as he stands in the dark, tearful at the sight of his late brother’s images on his mobile phone.
The now poignant photos are all that remain of Firas Al Qalaaji and his family of eight who were swept to their deaths in Derna, Libya, in a disaster that has seen parts of the city completely washed away.
For many in Syria who had witnessed over 10 years of war and a devastating earthquake in February that killed thousands, the events in Derna have touched them deeply.
"My brother Firas was my soulmate, he was the best of us, we spoke to him just before [the dam burst] they felt something was in the air, like it could be their time,” Muhammad told The National.
“He has gone to God, swept away by the water. My younger brother Shadi survived, by luck, by a miracle.”
Little was known about the fate of Firas and his family in the hours after the flood, as Muhammad and his seven siblings scoured the internet for news.
In the Kafr Souseh district in the Syrian capital, events in Libya felt close to home.
“We didn’t hear a peep, not even a rumour, and we were glued to the television, seeing the tremendous devastation wrought by the floods, we feared the worst,” Muhammad says.
The fatal flood wave
Their fears became a reality when Shadi, who lived in the same apartment block as Firas, called home. His voice was feeble and he was struggling from a hospital bed as he gave them the news that Firas and his family had succumbed in the floods caused by the dam collapse on September 10.
Muhammad takes a deep breath in the workshop as staff hammer away at water motors on the greasy floor.
“Shadi survived by chance, he was on the fourth floor, getting some documents when the fatal wave came. Firas’ house was on the ground floor, they never even had a chance.”
“When the building collapsed, a wall [fell] on Shadi and he was dragged in a powerful vortex, the walls just exploded on impact [with the water], he was shielded somehow and managed to survive.”
Muhammad and his relatives held a wake after the burial in the family’s ancestral home of Al Midan where hundreds of mourners came to send their condolences, too far away to lend direct assistance.
“All we knew was that there was heavy rain, and then an explosion. Firas spoke to us before, he had a feeling and gathered all his children, video calling my mother who is 83, to tell her, this right here is my family,” he says, describing the days before the disaster.
“It was no coincidence, we heard the city [Derna] just vanished.”
Muhammad still has a treasure trove of images of Firas just days before the disaster.
“Firas was popular and a clever mechanic. He had gone to Libya before the crisis, and made an excellent income, sending money home to his family. He wanted to come back to Damascus to see us. He’d been away for thirteen years. What am I to do now? He’s gone, with his whole family. It's a black day, a dark day. I don’t think a person can ever recover from such a loss.”
At the wake, the governor of Damascus attended, along with several notables, said Majd Al Laham, who also works with Muhammad.
“Literally everyone I know came to pay their condolences, the governor, religious clergy, sheikhs, friends, and even people who didn’t know the family directly. It’s something which has moved the whole country.”
Muhammad’s shattered heart was consoled by his boss, Ihsan Al Bahra, who stood by him through the worst times.
“I've worked here for thirty years, as a chief mechanic, Mr Al Bahra was with me from the second the disaster struck."
The search for more missing Syrians goes on as the world tries to deal with the sheer magnitude of the disaster which has ripped Derna apart.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
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Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
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The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam
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