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'My entire family's gone'
His wife, his 9-month-old twins and more -- killed in a chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government
'My entire family's gone': Syrian man says 25 relatives died in strike
Story highlights
- Abdul Hamid Youssef lost his wife and 9-month-old twins in attack on Syrian village
- Bashar al-Assad's regime accused of using illegal chemical weapons
- Images of Youssef cradling his dead babies have been shared widely around the world
This story contains graphic imagery.
(CNN)Abdul Hamid Youssef says the attack shook him from a deep sleep.
He awoke, finding it difficult to breathe.
Leaping
from bed, Youssef scrambled to make sure his 9-month-old twins were
still alive. Apparently unharmed, he passed them to his wife and told
her to stay in the house.
Rushing outside to check on his parents next door, Youssef passed people staggering and falling in the street.
Youssef
and many members of his extended family live on the northern edge of
Khan Sheikhoun, a town in Syria's Idlib province. On Tuesday, airstrikes
battered an area near their local bakery, meters from Youssef's home.
But it wasn't just any attack -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons in the strikes that rattled the rebel-held area while many were still sleeping.
Youssef
arrived in his parents' house to find his two brothers dead. Panicked,
he rushed back to his home to check on his wife and babies.
"There
was foam on their mouths, there were convulsions. They had all been on
the floor," Youssef told CNN on Wednesday, sobbing.
Youssef holds his twins, who were killed in Tuesday's chemical attack.
"My kids, Ahmad and Aya, and my wife... they were all martyred.
"My entire family's gone."
Youssef's
wife and children were among the victims of what is feared to be the
deadliest chemical attack in years in the country. Investigations are
underway to determine who was responsible for the Tuesday morning attack
that left at least 70 dead, according to activists. Syria's military
has denied using chemical weapons and blamed rebels for the carnage.
Youssef
says he collapsed and awoke a few hours later in a hospital bed to a
shocking reality -- much of his extended family was dead.
He says about 25 of his relatives died that day in Khan Sheikhoun.
"My brothers, their children, and their cousins," Youssef says. "Around 25 members of my family, all martyred."
According to local reports
on Tuesday, at least 19 members of the Youssef family were killed in
the strike. His wife and twins were noted on the list of victims, which
was circulated online.
A photo of Youssef that circulated widely on social media.
On Wednesday, people in the northern Syrian town gathered to bury the dead.
A
picture of Youssef cradling his children, both wrapped in white sheets,
went viral on social media. Youssef was photographed sitting at the
edge of a burial site, holding his twins. Footage, filmed later, shows
him kneeling by their graves and weeping.
"I
am crying, but these are tears of joy," Youssef says, explaining that
his children are now with God, and that is better than being in Syria.
"My kids aren't the first kids to die," he adds, breaking down in tears.
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