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Syrian refugee says he cannot forgive Hungarian camerawoman who tripped him up

Mr Al-Ghadab fell on his young son, Zaid, after being tripped by Petra László

Olivia Blair
Monday 14 September 2015 09:01 EDT
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A refugee carrying a child falls after tripping on a TV camerawoman while trying to escape from a collection point in Roszke village
A refugee carrying a child falls after tripping on a TV camerawoman while trying to escape from a collection point in Roszke village (Reuters)

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A Syrian refugee who was tripped up as he carried his young son by a Hungarian camerawoman has suggested he cannot forgive her.

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Al-Ghadab, 52, told MailOnline how, following the incident, his youngest son, Zaid, was bruised and had vomited due to the shock.

Mr Al-Ghadab described how some of the refugees had “started to lose patience” and wanted to walk to the Hungarian-Serbian border instead of waiting for the planned coach.

“People… wanted to walk the 10km to the border, the police were standing there to stop people going," he said.

“It was chaotic, people started to push. I didn’t see where it came from, I didn’t know if it was a camerawoman or a policeman. I just felt myself falling to the ground… How can I forgive her?”

The camera operator, Petra László worked for the right-wing Hungarian TV station N1TV.

Mr Al-Ghadab was carrying Zaid at the time, and fell on top of his seven-year-old child after being tripped. The footage then shows Mr Al-Ghadab turning around and shouting at Ms László in disbelief.

He has reportedly since seen the video and an additional clip appearing to show Ms László kicking a young refugee girl.

Following the incident, Ms László was fired from her job and is reportedly under criminal investigation.

She has since apologised — writing in a Hungarian newspaper that “something snapped in me” and that her actions were a result of her being “scared” because she thought she was “being attacked”.

Mr Al-Ghadab disputed this, saying: “People would not attack the media because the media were very nice to the refugees.”

The father of four is from Isis-conquered Deir ez-Zor in Syria and was formally a football coach.

According to the paper, he travelled from Bodrum, Turkey, to Kos by a dinghy and then through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria before reaching Germany a couple of days ago. He hopes his wife and other children can soon join them.

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