IRAQ. Sinjar Mountains. August 12, 2014. Injured survivors of an Iraqi Air Force helicopter crash in Mount Sinjar lie onboard a rescue helicopter on its way to Iraqi Kurdistan. The survivors included Yazidi civilians, Kurdish and Iraqi Army personnel, and journalists. The Yazidis were fleeing persecution at the hands of Islamist extremists who had recently taken over their hometowns in Iraq's Ninevah province. In the high grounds of Mount Sinjar, thousands of Yazidis found safety from ISIS, but also the risk of dying from hunger and thirst. The first rescue helicopter had been sent to save the besieged civilians from that dismal fate, but it crashed into the side of the mountain shortly after takeoff.