Feature: Syrian recounts harrowing escape as Aleppo falls to rebel forces

DAMASCUS, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- When the echoes of gunfire drew closer to her neighborhood in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo, Lama Fariz knew she had to make a hard decision -- leave home and flee into the unknown.

"We were leaving our homes, asking our neighbors what was happening. In moments, everything changed," 32-year-old Fariz recalled.

Fariz and her family were among the thousands of Syrians f