Columbia pupil from Syria loses nieces, sister-in-law in earthquake

A 28-year-old Syrian pupil at Columbia University misplaced his two youthful nieces and their mom inside the devastating earthquake that has claimed in any case 11,000 lives in his nation and neighboring Turkey.

Hussein Akoush, a pupil on the Ivy League school in Manhattan since 2021, knowledgeable The Daily Beast that he was despatched proper right into a “panic” when a great pal texted him about “massive destruction” in his hometown of Al-Atarib in northwestern Aleppo.

“I saw the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.8. At this point, I realized it was huge,” he knowledgeable the outlet.

“I had to check in on my family in Syria. So I sent messages to all my sisters and my brother, but none of them received my messages,” talked about Akoush, who moved to Turkey in 2016 after which to the Big Apple in 2021 to overview neuroscience.

He lastly heard from his uncle, who talked about, “‘Don’t worry, we’re fine, your mother and your sister are well,” Akoush knowledgeable The Daily Beast.

“‘Your brother’s building collapsed but we managed to take him out of the ruins. But we know nothing about his wife and two daughters,’” he talked about his uncle knowledgeable him.

Eventually, he realized that his nieces — 6-year-old Sedra and 5-year-old Maria — and their mom Fatima perished inside the disaster.

“With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of my two nieces and their mother in last night’s earthquake,” Akoush said on Twitter.

“So, my brother lost his wife and his two daughters,” he knowledgeable The Daily Beast, together with that his brother has undergone surgical process for a broken arm.

“It was a terrible night… I was not able to sleep,” he talked about.

In a GoFundMe net web page from 2020, Akoush wrote that “sooner than the Syrian revolution began, I was a hardworking pupil. I used to be excessive of my class nevertheless I was obliged to drop out of the School of Dentistry at Aleppo University in 2012 for concern of arrest by the Syrian Government due its violent response to the peaceful protests on campus.

“During the war, I dedicated myself to peaceful activism against the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Al Assad, as I watched friends and family members and innocent civilians being ruthlessly killed,” he continued.

Akoush talked about he realized English, decided to maneuver to Turkey and have change into a contract journalist after going via “a litany of death threats and constant bombardment.”  

“Fortunately, I was awarded a partial scholarship from Columbia to cover half of the tuition but it is still not enough and that is why I am hoping you will make a donation to help pay for my first year of tuition,” he wrote.

Akoush acquired $51,426 in donations, surpassing his goal of $50,000.