The British founder of an organisation that trained the “White Helmets” emergency response group has been found dead in Istanbul, five years after the group was set up to perform rescue work in rebel areas during the Syrian civil war.
Reuters: Key backer of Syrian ‘White Helmets’ found dead in Istanbul
A Turkish police officer stands guard ouside the Mayday Rescue offices on November 11, 2019, in the Karakoy district of Istanbul, following the discovery of the body of the organisation's founder. - The British founder of a group that helped establish the Syrian White Helmets rescue organisation, James Le Mesurier, has been found dead his office said on November 11, 2019. Le Mesurier was a former British Army officer who founded Mayday Rescue, which helped train the White Helmets when it began in 2013. Known officially as Syria Civil Defence, the White Helmets are a voluntary search-and-rescue group formed to respond to bombings by Syrian government forces in opposition-controlled parts of Syria. Local media reports said his body was found with fractures to his legs and head at the foot of his apartment
