Syrian dad who lost family in attack reacts to U.S. strike

When Abdel Hameed al- Youssef regained consciousness after a chemical weapons attack on his hometown in northern Syria, the husband and father awoke to a nightmare. His 9-month-old twins, his wife Tallulah and more than 20 other family members were dead. "When I came to, I asked for them," Youssef, a farmer, told ABC News on Saturday. "All dead." The morning of April 4 began like any other for residents of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib province. Youssef and his wife woke up to an airstrike that hit just 20 meters from their home, and the children were frightened. "We're bombed constantly," Youssef said. With the twins, Ahmad and Aya, clinging to his neck, Youssef and his wife stepped outside their home to assess the situation. Rubble surrounded the house, he said. They continued walking through the neighborhood when two more airstrikes hit nearby. But there were no sounds of explosions, Youssef said. Then, they smelled a strange odor and people around them began to collapse. "At this moment, I felt something was wrong. So I handed over Ahmad and Aya to my wife and I told her to get away from here," Youssef said. "I told her to get to safety." Tallulah took the twins and four of their neighbors' children to find a safe place, while Youssef rescued several neighbors who had collapsed and were foaming at the mouth. "I covered my mouth with my hand as much as possible," he said. Youssef ran to his parents' home in the town, which was about 100 meters away from the poisonous airstrike. There, he found some of his brothers, their wives, their children and a cousin –- all nonresponsive and foaming at the mouth. Youssef hurried to another family member's home nearby, where he found one of his nieces also dead. As he tried to pick up her small body, his eyes went hazy and he had trouble breathing. "I was conscious for only a few seconds and then I fainted," Youssef said. It wasn’t until Youssef awoke that he learned the fate of his wife and children. First responders told Youssef that they found his wife with the twins and the neighbors' kids in a shelter near his house. Tallulah was still holding the children close but she was so ill from the toxic gas that she was unable to walk. The twins, Ahmad and Aya, were still foaming at the mouth when Youssef saw their bodies. He wiped the foam from their mouths and took them in his arms. "I told them, 'Hello darlings. I took too long. I rescued everyone else but I couldn't rescue you,'" Youssef told ABC News, in between tears. "I was expecting them to hug me back."