This picture will break your heart

The World
A young refugee at the Atmeh refugee camp in Syria.

There's something truly incredible and devastating about this photo of a 4-year-old Syrian refugee with her hands in the air, "surrendering" to the man taking the photo.

So when Gaza-based photojournalist Nadia AbuShaban tweeted about the photo last week, it's easy to see why the image zoomed around the world. But there was something missing: Who was this girl? What's the story? As the image started going viral, some people doubted its authenticity.

BBC Trending put the mystery to rest on Tuesday by finding the photographer, Turkish photojournalist Osman Sağırlı.

Sağırlı told the BBC the child is a 4-year-old girl named Hudea, and that the image was taken at the Atmeh refugee camp in Syria in December 2014.

What Sağırlı said next just is incredible, and sad.

"I was using a telephoto lens, and she thought it was a weapon," says Sağırlı. "I realized she was terrified after I took it, and looked at the picture, because she bit her lips and raised her hands. Normally kids run away, hide their faces or smile when they see a camera."

You can read more about what the BBC found out about the photo here. But I wanted to highlight how the photo moved people all over the world. Perhaps it's Hudea's eye, or the knowledge that the conflict in Syria is still raging on after years, creating thousands upon thousands of homeless children like her. Either way, the image speaks volumes.

Here is just a sample of how far this image has traveled:

Colombia

India

Canada

Indonesia

Austria

Cyprus

United Kingdom

New Zealand

Israel

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