A 14 year old Syrian actor, who was one of the stars of the children’s sitcom ‘Umm Abdou the Aleppan’, has been killed in a bomb strike in his hometown of Aleppo.
Qusai Abtini was reportedly trying to flee the war torn city when the car he was travelling in was hit by a bomb.
According to the BBC, the bombing occurred last month, part of a sustained series of bombing in the wartorn country.
His father was hit in one of those bomb strikes, leading to him becoming disabled. Out of fear for his children’s life, he arranged to have the actor and his siblings sent out, only for Qusai to die whilst fleeing.
Qusai played Abu Abdou, a domineering and patriarchal husband to his clever, ambitious but ditzy wife, played by a girl called Rasha, in the sitcom that featured actors who were entirely children. It explored how families dealt with the realities of living in a city, Aleppo, that was almost entirely a war zone.
“Qusai was a very talented boy.” the show’s director, Bashar Sakka told the Associated Press.
“We were looking for an intelligent boy. We wanted him to be free with ideas, and without fear of Bashar Assad’s regime and its ruthlessness.”