Thousands of people have volunteered to adopt the baby girl who was born under the rubble of a building that collapsed in northwest Syria after Monday’s earthquake.
When she was rescued, baby Aya — her name means miracle in Arabic — was still connected to her mother by the umbilical cord. She managed to give birth, but did not survive. The newborn’s father and all four siblings also died after the earthquake hit the town of Jindires.
Videos of Aya’s rescue went viral on social media. Footage showed a man running from the rubble of a building, holding a baby covered in dust. Khalil al-Suwadi, a distant relative who was there when she was rescued, took the newborn to a doctor in the Syrian town of Afrin.
“She arrived on Monday in a very bad state, she had swelling, bruises, she was cold and barely breathing,” says Hani Marouf, the pediatrician who took care of her. Aya is now in the hospital and in a stable condition.
The director of the hospital where the baby is, Khalid Attiah, says he has received dozens of calls from people around the world wanting to adopt her. He said that, for now, he will not allow the adoption. “Until your family returns, I’m treating them like they’re mine [filha]”, he states.
The hospital director has a daughter just four months older than Aya. For now, his wife is breastfeeding the rescued baby. Thousands of people on social networks also sought details to adopt her.
“I am ready to care for and adopt this child if the legal procedures allow me,” said a Kuwaiti television anchor.
In Aya’s hometown of Jindires, people have been searching for loved ones in collapsed buildings. “The situation is a disaster. Many people are still under the rubble,” Mohammed al-Adnan, a local journalist, tells BBC News Mundo.
He estimated that 90% of the city was destroyed, and most of the help so far has come from the local population. Rescuers — who have been familiar with pulling people out of rubble for more than a decade during Syria’s civil war — also help in Jindires. “Rescuers can end up being victims as well because of the instability of the building”, says Mohammed al-Kamel.
“We’ve just pulled three bodies out of the rubble and we think there’s a family inside that’s still alive. We’ll keep working.”
More than 3,000 deaths were reported in Syria after the earthquake, which also hit Turkey. The number does not include deaths in areas of the country controlled by rebel groups.
This text was originally published here.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
_113606.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
