The baby born in northern Syria at the time of the earthquake, he was today reunited with his only remaining relatives, his aunt and uncle, since his parents and siblings were killed.

In videos posted on social networking sites in the past few days, a rescuer can be seen climbing down a hill of rubble holding a small, dusty baby in his arms. It was later determined that the newborn baby girl was the child of Abdullah and Aphra Mleihan. Both of them were killed, along with their other children, in the rebel-held town of Jadaris in Aleppo province.

The baby was hospitalized in Jihan hospital until doctors were able to identify his relatives. Today, Khala’s paternal aunt Hala and her husband Khalil al-Sawadi finally received their niece, whom they named Afraa, after her dead mother.

“This girl means so much to us because there is no one left but her family. They will be remembered by me, her aunt and all the relatives in her mother’s and father’s village, through her,” Sawadi said.

The uncle was holding her in one hand Afraa, wrapped in a pink blanket, and in the other his own newborn daughter, Ataa, wrapped in blue. Ataa was born three days after the earthquake, and Sawadi said he would raise the girls together. “There were legal procedures to confirm our relationship, as well as a DNA test,” he explained.

More than 5,800 people have been killed in Syria since the February 6 earthquake – most in rebel-held areas. Jadaris, where the Sawadis live, is one of the hardest hit towns.

Major damage has also occurred in cities controlled by the Damascus regime. A woman gave birth in Aleppo during the earthquake and said her baby “brought her back to life”.