JINDERIS (SYRIA): Residents of a town in northwestern Syria have discovered a crying baby whose mother appears to have given birth while he was buried under the rubble of a five-story building flattened by the quake devastating land loss this week, relatives and a doctor said on Tuesday.
The newborn girl was found buried under the rubble with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was found dead, they said. The baby was the only member of his family to survive Monday’s building collapse in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleimana relative, told The Associated Press.
Rescuers found the baby Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake. A neighbor cut the cord, and she and others rushed the baby to a children’s hospital in nearby Afrin, where she was kept in an incubator, said the doctor treating the baby, the Dr. Hani Maarouf.
The baby’s body temperature had dropped to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and she had bruises, including a large one on her back, but she is in stable condition, he said. Maarouf said he believed the baby was born about three hours before he was found, given the drop in his temperature.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck before dawn on Monday, followed by multiple aftershocks, caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The death toll has passed 5,000 and continues to rise with the discovery of new bodies.
Jinderis, located in the rebel enclave in northwest Syria, was hit hard by the earthquake, with several buildings collapsing.
The city experienced another dramatic rescue on Monday night, when a toddler was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Video from the White Helmets, the area’s emergency service, shows a rescuer digging through crushed concrete amid twisted metal until the little girl, named Nour, appears. The daughter, still half-buried, looks up dazedly as they tell her, “Daddy’s here, don’t be scared. … Talk to your dad, talk.”
A lifeguard took her head in her hands and gently wiped the dust around her eyes before she was removed.
The newborn girl was found buried under the rubble with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was found dead, they said. The baby was the only member of his family to survive Monday’s building collapse in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleimana relative, told The Associated Press.
Rescuers found the baby Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake. A neighbor cut the cord, and she and others rushed the baby to a children’s hospital in nearby Afrin, where she was kept in an incubator, said the doctor treating the baby, the Dr. Hani Maarouf.
The baby’s body temperature had dropped to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and she had bruises, including a large one on her back, but she is in stable condition, he said. Maarouf said he believed the baby was born about three hours before he was found, given the drop in his temperature.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck before dawn on Monday, followed by multiple aftershocks, caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The death toll has passed 5,000 and continues to rise with the discovery of new bodies.
Jinderis, located in the rebel enclave in northwest Syria, was hit hard by the earthquake, with several buildings collapsing.
The city experienced another dramatic rescue on Monday night, when a toddler was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Video from the White Helmets, the area’s emergency service, shows a rescuer digging through crushed concrete amid twisted metal until the little girl, named Nour, appears. The daughter, still half-buried, looks up dazedly as they tell her, “Daddy’s here, don’t be scared. … Talk to your dad, talk.”
A lifeguard took her head in her hands and gently wiped the dust around her eyes before she was removed.
