The Syrian paramedic who was filmed helping a five-year-old boy dazed and bloodied by a Russian airstrike in Aleppo has said that he hopes the footage will help draw the world's attention to the brutality of the country's civil war.

Footage of Omran covered in dust and blood after being pulled from rubble in the battle-torn city shocked the world when it was released last week.

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In an interview with Sky News, Ammar Hammami, said that a great many children and their families had been harmed by the ongoing violence in Syria's once vibrant second city.

"The media reaction was because the strike on the Qaterji neighbourhood was a big massacre, so when this child emerged there were lots of journalists," he said.

"I want to send a message to the world that Omran isn't the first child to be injured because of Russian airstrikes on Aleppo. Every day we're losing hundreds of dead and injured just here in Aleppo."

Omran was rescued from the remains of a building on Wednesday night, along with his three siblings, aged one, six and 11, and his mother and father. They had been living in the district of Qaterji, which is held by anti-government rebels.

"It's the first time I've seen a child like him," said Hammami. "Usually, when a child gets out of an airstrike they're crying, their voice fills up everything but this child didn't say a thing.

"I took him to the ambulance and I tried to speak to him but he didn't say a word. He said nothing. Eventually, he managed to ask me 'Where's my mum and dad?' That's it. That's all."

The Syrian civil war began in 2011 as a protest against the autocratic regime of president Bashar al-Assad. It has claimed the lives of nearly 300,000 people, and millions have been displaced during the conflict.

Syria