The rescue of 9-year-old Sam al-Sheikh Mohammed and her 15-year-old brother Omar from the rubble of a building in northwestern Syria, about 40 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that caused death and destruction on February 6, had sent shivers of emotion across the world. public opinion.

The two children were pulled out seriously injured and the little girl in particular is at risk of losing both her legs.

Tonight they were taken to a hospital in Turkey, local officials told AFP. They are the first earthquake victims from northwestern Syria who are allowed to cross into neighboring Turkey. The AFP correspondent saw two ambulances from Turkey pass the Bab al-Hawa border post to pick up the two children, who were accompanied by their father and an aunt.

The video of their rescue had gone viral and the White Helmets had appealed to everyone to pray for the little girl to avoid amputation.

Like other survivors trapped for hours in the rubble of collapsed buildings from the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed more than 46,000 people in Syria and Turkey, Sam suffers from traumatic rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to amputation. kidney failure or heart complications.

The girl had been buried alive in the rubble of her home in the town of Armanaz. The operation to extricate her took about six hours. In videos posted online by the White Helmets, rescuers could be seen trying to cheer up Sam, who was humming along with them.

Her mother and sister were found dead. Her father and brother Omar survived. “Sam’s condition is critical,” the girl’s father told AFP, adding that 15-year-old Omar was injured in the leg.

A health official in Idlib, which is under the control of anti-regime forces, told AFP the girl needed to receive “specialized treatment that is not available” in that area.

The Syrian government announced earlier today that it had secured the transfer of six injured children to the United Arab Emirates. According to a government source, a proposal had been made to transfer the 9-year-old Sam abroad, which was rejected by the anti-regime forces that control this region in northwestern Syria.