• 1972 – Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running naked down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.

Phan Thị Kim Phúc


The Terror of War, June 8, 1972: Kim Phúc, centre, running down a road
naked near Trảng Bàng after a South Vietnam Air Force napalm attack

Born: Phan Thị Kim Phúc; April 6, 1963 (age 63); Trảng Bàng, South Vietnam
Nationality: Canadian
Other names: Kim Phúc
Citizenship: South Vietnam (1963–1975); Vietnam (1975–1997); Canada (1997–present)
Alma mater: University of Havana, Cuba
Occupation(s): Author, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Known for: Being "The Girl in the Picture" (Vietnam War)
Spouse: Bui Huy Toan ​{m. 1992)}
Children: 2
Awards: Order of Ontario

Phan Thị Kim Phúc OOnt (Vietnamese: [faːŋ tʰɪ̂ˀ kim fúk͡p̚]; born April 6, 1963), referred to informally as the girl in the picture and the napalm girl, is a South Vietnamese-born Canadian woman best known as the child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph, titled The Terror of War, taken at Trảng Bàng during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972.

The image shows a nine-year-old Kim Phuc running naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese Air Force napalm attack. The image became one of the most iconic and powerful symbols of the war, influencing global public opinion and anti-war movements.

After years of medical treatment for her injuries, Kim Phúc eventually moved to Canada, where she became a citizen and later founded the Kim Foundation International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping child victims of war. She has since become a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and a prominent advocate for peace and reconciliation, frequently sharing her experiences to promote healing and understanding.

Her story has been widely documented in books, interviews, and documentaries, highlighting her journey from war victim to humanitarian. Despite enduring lifelong physical and emotional scars, Kim Phúc continues to use her platform to support survivors of conflict and raise awareness about the humanitarian impact of war.

Vietnam War napalm attack

Phan Thi Kim Phúc and her family lived in Trảng Bàng in South Vietnam. On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes dropped napalm on Trảng Bàng, which had been attacked and occupied by North Vietnamese forces. Kim Phúc joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers who were fleeing from the Caodai Temple to the safety of South Vietnamese-held positions. The Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilot flying an A-1E Skyraider mistook the group for enemy soldiers and diverted to attack. The bombing killed two of Kim Phúc's cousins and two other villagers. Kim Phúc received third degree burns after her clothing was burned by the fire.

Images and rescue
Main article: The Terror of War

Photographer Nick Ut sold the Associated Press (AP) a photograph of Kim Phúc running naked amid other fleeing villagers, South Vietnamese soldiers, and other press photographers. Ut was attributed as the photographer, but this has been contested since the release of The Stringer in 2025. In an interview many years later, Kim Phúc recalled she was yelling, Nóng quá, nóng quá {"So hot, so hot"} in the picture. The New York Times editors were at first hesitant to consider the photo for publication because of the nudity, but they eventually approved it. A cropped version of the photo—with the press photographers to the right removed—was featured on the front page of The New York Times the next day. Titled "The Terror of War", it later earned a Pulitzer Prize and was chosen as the World Press Photo of the Year for 1973. In June 2025 World Press Photo rescinded their attribution of the photo to Nick Ut.

Ut took Kim Phúc and the other injured children to Barsky Hospital in Saigon, where it was determined that her burns were so severe that she probably would not survive. However, after a 14-month hospital stay and 17 surgical procedures, including skin grafts, she was able to return home. A number of the early operations were performed by Finnish plastic surgeon Aarne Rintala [sv]. It was only after treatment at a special hospital in Ludwigshafen, West Germany, in 1982, that Kim Phúc was able to properly move again. Ut continued to visit Kim Phúc until he was evacuated to the United States during the fall of Saigon.

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