Xinhua reporter seriously hurt during Syrian presidential election

A Xinhua reporter remained in a coma Saturday, three days after being severely wounded by a stray bullet while covering the Syrian presidential election.

Ahmed Hasan Ahmed, who works for Xinhua as a video journalist based in Egypt, has been put on a life-support machine in a Syrian hospital.

Ahmed's father-in-law and another Xinhua reporter are on their way to Damascus to discuss with doctors whether to remove bullet fragments from his head.

It is suspected the bullet was fired into the air on Wednesday by supporters of Syrian incumbent President Bashar al-Assad to celebrate his election victory, and hit Ahmed as it fell back to ground.

Assad won a third seven-year term on Tuesday by garnering an overwhelming 88.7 percent of the vote in the presidential election, which was the first multi-candidate poll in Syria's modern history and took place amid a three-year political crisis and conflict.

Ahmed, 28, joined Xinhua's Mideast Regional Bureau in 2010, after graduating as an economics major, and has become an experienced war reporter, covering South Sudan's independence in 2011, as well as the Libyan uprising and the Syria conflict.

Commended by his colleagues as a man of passion and bravery, Ahmed has also reported in several other restive Middle East countries, including Tunisia and Iraq.

"Ahmed is very dedicated to his work. He is respected and loved by his peers," said his colleague He Yiping.

"He is a quiet, handsome young man," she said. "An honest guy, and always punctual."

Ahmed married just two months ago, and has no children.

"Ahmed is passionate about his job," He said. "I remember once when Ahmed and I were interviewing people at Tahrir Square in Cairo, a man suddenly came close and tried to grab the video camera from him."

"Now I can still vividly remember the way he reacted. He held tightly the video camera in his arms, as if he was protecting his child," she said.