On Wednesday, Angelina Jolie was visiting a group of refugees outside of Athens, Greece, when things got scary. As a huge mob of press and fans tried to get close to the star, the crush of people threatened to hurt the small children in the crowd. Jolie was forced to put her own body between the kids and the mob to protect them, Entertainment Tonight reported.
Video of the incident shows her pleading for help as the crowd presses in on her. “Watch out for the little girl!” she tells a cameraman before bringing a child close to her for safety, "stay here, don’t get hurt.”
With help from her companions, she finally managed to carve out a little bit of space from the throng of cameras.
The incident is all the more sad when you consider that Jolie wasn't visiting the country in her capacity a movie star, but rather as part of a humanitarian effort. The children endangered by the crush were the very ones whose plight her visit was meant to help.
Jolie was in Greece as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to address the needs of the migrants and refugees who have arrived there, often after a dangerous journey from conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq. According to the UNHCR, there are over 40,000 migrants who have arrived in Greece in the past weeks. The organization says that aid efforts are not meeting the needs of the rapidly growing number of refugees.
"I am here to reinforce efforts by UNHCR and the Greek government to step up the emergency response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. I look forward to meeting authorities, partners, and volunteers working on the ground to improve conditions and ensure the vulnerable are protected," Jolie said in a statement from UNHCR.