A Common Tragedy in Aleppo Kills Young Swim Star and Brother

“As the dust began to settle, I looked around me and I saw Arman, my youngest son, on the floor. His intestines were lying outside his body. He was dead,” she said in a trembling voice.

Betty then called out for Mireille.

“I found her on the ground too, she was missing both her hands and legs. She was bleeding. I couldn’t lift her because I was wounded and bleeding too, and I wasn’t able to move.”

Hundreds of people have been killed in western Aleppo city by rebel fire since the conflict began, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which has also recorded thousands of deaths in the rebel-held east in government air strikes, barrel bomb attacks and artillery fire.

In recent weeks, the government has stepped up its assault on the east in a bid to recapture it, and rebels have increased the pace of their crude rocket fire on western Aleppo.

Rights groups have condemned both sides for indiscriminate fire that kills civilians.

Syrian state news agency SANA said 13 people were killed in rebel fire on western Aleppo on the day Mireille and Arman died.

More than 300,000 people have been killed and over half Syria’s population displaced by the conflict since it began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.

Among those displaced are millions who have become refugees, some braving leaky boats to cross the Mediterranean like fellow Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini.

She gained international attention after surviving near-drowning and reaching Germany, and competed in this year’s Rio Olympics as part of a refugee team.

Mireille had won medals in both Syria and Armenia and was coaching young female swimmers in Aleppo as well as training to swim in open-water long-distance competitions.

“She was very ambitious… She remained an athlete even after the war began,” said coach Wanis Salahiyan, who had trained Mireille since she was five.

“Mireille was very ambitious and had big dreams… She always wanted to be the best at whatever she was doing, especially in sports,” her mother added.

Mireille’s father Viken, 56, tried to remain composed in front of his wife as they looked at pictures of her and Arman.

“We’ve lost material things before, shops and warehouses. But this time our loss was huge, I’ve lost my son and daughter,” he said.

Both her parents described Mireille’s unusual fortitude, depicting her as a rock for the family.

“It was Mireille who gave us strength,” Viken said.