Air strike warning app helps Syrians dodge death from skies
ISTANBUL : A Russian military aircraft thunders into the sky at 4.47 pm from Russia’s air base at Hmeimim in western Syria, veering to the east.
An observer takes note of all three details, opens a phone app and enters the information into three designated fields.
Fourteen minutes later and 100 km away, Abdel Razzaq sees the aircraft flying over his town of Maaret al-numan. He opens his own app and types: Maaret al-numan, Russian military aircraft, headed northeast.
The data is processed by a programme, known as Sentry, that estimates the plane’s trajectory and sends a warning, triggering Facebook and Telegram messages, Tweets and, most importantly, loud sirens throughout cities in opposition-held Syria.
Air strikes have been a fact of daily life for millions of Syrians living in rebel-held areas, becoming far more intense since Russia joined the war in 2015.
Before Sentry was introduced, the main warning people had of an air strike was when they heard the planes themselves -- when it was already too late, said Omayya, 50, who was displaced from Aleppo to its northwestern countryside.
The warning system was founded by two Americans, John Jaeger and his business partner Dave Levin, after Jaeger had held a job working with Syrian civilians for the US state department.
The White Helmet rescue workers operating in opposition-held Syria work with Sentry to operate and maintain air raid sirens.