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Man Who Was Tripped By Camerawoman In Hungary Gets New Start In Spain

Osama Abdul Mohsen (left) has the promise of a new job in Spain, where soccer officials invited him to come live. He's seen here with his son Zaid as they arrive at the Barcelona train station Wednesday.
Manu Fernandez
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AP
Osama Abdul Mohsen (left) has the promise of a new job in Spain, where soccer officials invited him to come live. He's seen here with his son Zaid as they arrive at the Barcelona train station Wednesday.

The Syrian man who became part of an international story after he was tripped by a camerawoman in Hungary is now in Spain, where a sports organization plans to offer him work. Osama Abdul Mohsen was tripped by a camerawoman as he ran from police, holding his young son.

Arriving in Spain late Wednesday, Mohsen said, "I love you all. Thank you for all. Thank you for España."

Mohsen was part of a crowd of refugees and migrants who were trying to enter Hungary last week, when a videographer put her foot out and tripped him, sending him and his son to the turf.

Camerawoman Petra Laszlo was fired after tripping a fleeing man as he held a young boy in Hungary last week. That man, Syrian Osama Abdul Mohsen, is now in Spain with the promise of a job offer.
Stephan Richter / Twitter
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Camerawoman Petra Laszlo was fired after tripping a fleeing man as he held a young boy in Hungary last week. That man, Syrian Osama Abdul Mohsen, is now in Spain with the promise of a job offer.

The camerawoman, Petra Laszlo, was fired for her actions by her network, which said she acted inappropriately. She later apologized.

After learning that Mohsen had been a first-division soccer coach in Syria, Miguel Angel Galan, the director of a soccer academy in Getafe, near Madrid, invited him to come to the school.

From Hungary, Mohsen and 7-year-old Zaid reached Munich, where they were contacted by Galan earlier this week. In Munich, he was also reunited with his older son, Mohammed.

"I see a future for my family in Spain," Mohsen tells El Mundo, which has followed his case closely.

All three are now in Spain — the reception committee that met them at the train station included the mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández, according to El Pais.

The newspaper says they're now hoping to reunite the whole family:

"Meanwhile, Mohsen's wife and two other children are back in Mersin, a Turkish city on the Mediterranean near the Syrian border.

" 'They've been there for two weeks, but I hope that soon they will be able to join us. [Cenafe chief] Miguel Ángel has told me that we will all be together again. We are happy, but worried about my wife and children, because I don't want them to remain there,' said Mohsen."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
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