Syrian swimmer and her 12-year-old brother killed by shelling in Aleppo

A young Syrian swimmer and her 12-year-old brother have been killed by heavy shelling in Aleppo

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Mireille Hindoyan, a university student and sportswoman, was seriously injured and later died after bombs fell on the Villi district of the city, home to many people of Armenian descent.

Her brother Arman Hindoyan also died in the attack on Friday, according to Aleppo-based Armenian news service Kantsasar.

A Facebook post by the Aleppo branch of the Armenian Youth Association confirmed Ms Hindoyan had been killed in the strikes and offered its condolences to her family.

Ms Hindoyan was a “reliable and hard-working member of the sports committee”, said the post.

The medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said there had been a “bloodbath” in Aleppo amid a sustained assault on the city by pro-Assad forces backed by Russian warplanes.

The siblings’ mother was in hospital with injuries after the attack, according to news website Arevelk. Two other people hMad died in the bombing and at least seven others were injured,

People walk on the rubble of damaged buildings in the rebel held area of al-Kalaseh in Aleppo on 29 September (Reuters)

Some reports on social media suggested that Ms Hindoyan had swum in national contests, but The Independent was unable to confirm this.

During the Rio Olympics, 18-year-old Yusra Mardini from Syria made headlines as she competed as part of a team of 10 refugee athletes.

Ms Mardini was a talented swimmer in war-torn Damascus and was professionally backed by the Syrian Olympic Committee. 

She now lives in Berlin after helping to save the lives of 20 people with her sister during their dangerous journey from Syria, by jumping off a sinking dinghy into the Aegean Sea and pushing their boat to land.