Earthquake in Syria: Afraa, a little girl born under the ruins, was taken away by her relatives

Relatives named her Afraa in honor of her late mother. Pretty symbol. The Syrian baby, miraculously found alive hours after being born under the rubble of a building destroyed by the deadly earthquake, will be discharged from the hospital and will live with his relatives near Jandairis in northwestern Syria, his relatives say. The little girl is the only survivor of her family: her father, mother, siblings died when their four-story house collapsed after the February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria killed nearly 46,000 people.

Relatives removed from the ruins of a baby who was born under the rubble and is still connected by the umbilical cord with the deceased mother. “She is my soul, my life and my whole world,” assures her uncle Khalil Sawadi, who cradles the little girl in a makeshift tent wrapped in a blanket and wearing a red cap with a black bow tie.

The video of her rescue went viral on social media and Aphraa made international headlines as a miracle baby after the earthquake. After spending ten days in a hospital near Jandairis, little Aphraa was subjected to a DNA test to verify her relationship to Khalil Sawadi, who is also her father’s cousin.

“The day we were told that we could leave her, my joy was unparalleled, it was indescribable,” says Mr. Savadi, who was among those who found her under the rubble.

“This child is a living memory of her father, her mother, her siblings,” he promises, adding that someday, when she is older, he will tell her the story of her birth. He places little Aphraa on a mattress on the floor, and his daughters gather around the baby to take him in their arms and kiss him. According to him, his wife gave birth a few days ago, but he spent all the time with Aphraa. “She is now like one of my daughters. “.

VIDEO. Earthquake in Syria: the miraculous rescue of little Nur, stuck under the rubble