Newborn With Umbilical Cord Still Attached Is Saved From Rubble in Quake-Hit Syrian Town
The baby girl was the only member of her family to survive from the building collapse Monday in the small town of Jinderis
By Ghaith Alsayed and Bassem Mroue ••
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A newborn baby, who was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother then pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, receives medical care from doctor Hani Maaruf, at a clinic in Afrin, Feb. 7, 2023. The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when a 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindaris, the baby’s cousin, Khalil al-Suwadi, said.
Residents in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble of a five-story apartment building leveled by this week’s devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday.
The newborn girl was found buried under the debris 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 her family to survive from the building collapse Monday in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleiman, a relative, told The Associated Press.
The rescuers found the baby Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake struck. A female neighbor cut the cord, and she and others rushed with the baby to a children’s hospital in the nearby town of Afrin, where she has been kept in an incubator, said the physician treating the baby, Dr. Hani Maarouf.
A powerful earthquake hit southeast Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing and injuring thousands of people.
The baby’s body temperature had fallen 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 had been born about three hours before being found, given the amount her temperature had dropped.
Monday’s pre-dawn 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by multiple aftershocks, caused widespread destruction across southern Turkey and northern Syria. The death toll has surpassed 6,000 and continues to mount with more bodies discovered.
Jinderis, located in the rebel-held enclave of northwest Syria, was hard hit in the quake, with multiple buildings that collapsed.
The town saw another dramatic rescue Monday evening, when a toddler was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Video from the White Helmets, the emergency service in the region, shows a rescuer digging through crushed concrete amid twisted metal until the little girl, named Nour, appeared. The girl, still half buried, looks up dazedly as they tell her, “Dad is here, don’t be scared. … Talk to your dad, talk.”
A rescuer cradled her head in his hands and tenderly wiped dust from around her eyes before she was pulled out.
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Kahraman, 62, walks past a row of collapsed buildings after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the Hatay province in southern Turkey, Antakya, Feb. 21, 2023. The 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck on February 20, two weeks after a 7.8-magnitude quake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of February 6.
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Search and rescue teams look respond to a destroyed building in an Uzbek village damaged by the earthquake, Feb. 21, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 46,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.
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A young child stand in destroyed street of an Uzbek village damaged by earthquakes, Feb. 21, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 46,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.
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Soldiers examine a newborn baby rescued from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. The newborn, 20-days old, was rescued 59 hours after the earthquake and reported to be in good health. Rescue efforts continue for his mother.
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Soldiers rush a newborn to an ambulance for medical treatment in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. The newborn, 20-days old, was rescued 59 hours after the earthquake and reported to be in good health. Rescue efforts continue for his mother.
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Rescue workers carry Yigit Cakmak, an 8-years-old survivor at the site of a collapsed building 52 hours after the earthquake struck, on Feb. 8, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of Monday, followed by another 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday. The quakes caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and were felt in nearby countries.
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People gather around the rubble of collapsed buildings, Feb. 8, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of Monday, followed by another 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday. The quakes caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and were felt in nearby countries.
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Volunteers work to rescue a woman trapped under debris from a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. Turkey’s government is overwhelmed by the extent of the damage to infrastructure, logistical problems and aid needed to assist the 13.4 million people living in the disaster zone.
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Survivors of the earthquake waiting on news of relatives buried under the rubble hug in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. Hatay is one of the hardest hit regions in Turkey, after a massive 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks devastated the area.
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Members of the Syrian civil defense, known as the White Helmets, warm themselves by a fire next to the rubble of a collapsed building in Jinderis, Feb. 7, 2023, as search and rescue operations continue following a deadly earthquake.
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A woman cries as she waits for the autopsy to be carried out on her aunt, in front of the Elbistan State Hospital, Feb. 8, 2023, in Elbistan Turkey. The massive 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria devastated the area, leveling towns and killing thousands of people as they slept early Monday morning.
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People seen waiting in the earthquake zone on Feb. 7, 2023. Turkey experienced the biggest earthquake of this century in the border region with Syria. The earthquake was measured at 7.7 magnitude.
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Search operations continue after the earthquake on Feb. 7, 2023. Turkey experienced the biggest earthquake of this century in the border region with Syria. The earthquake was measured at 7.7 magnitude.
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Baby Ayse Vera and her mother, Hulya Yilmaz (not pictured), are rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, 29 hours after powerful earthquakes hit Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023.
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A newborn baby, who was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother then pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, receives medical care from doctor Hani Maaruf, at a clinic in Afrin, Feb. 7, 2023. The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when a 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindaris, the baby’s cousin, Khalil al-Suwadi, said.
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A Syrian boy watches an excavator go through the rubble of a house in which an entire family, save a newborn baby, was killed, Feb. 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, Syria, following a deadly earthquake. Residents and rescue workers uncovered a newborn survivor trapped under rubble, her umbilical chord still tied to her mother, who died when the building collapsed.
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Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023. Irmak died when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s southeast border with Syria, devastating the region. Kahramanmaras is close to the quake’s epicenter in Gaziantep.
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]Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Jableh, a town in Syria’s Latakia province, Feb. 7, 2023. A massive rescue effort in Turkey and Syria is hampered by frigid weather in a race against time to find survivors under buildings flattened by powerful quakes that killed more than 5,000 people.
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An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast border with Syria.
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Civilians look for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras on Feb. 7, 2023, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast border with Syria.
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Smoke billows from the Iskenderun Port as rescue workers work at the scene of a collapsed building, Feb. 7, 2023, in Iskenderun, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, causing widespread destruction in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria.
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Search and rescue efforts continue in the 8-storey apartment destroyed in the earthquake, in Diyarbakir, Turkey following 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey’s Kahramanmaras on Feb. 6, 2023.
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Search and rescue operations are carried out in the wreckage in Hatay, after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey’s Kahramanmaras, on Feb. 6, 2023.
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A view of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey following 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Kahramanmaras on Feb. 7, 2023.
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Rescue workers and volunteers search for victims and survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
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A woman cries as rescuers search for survivors through the rubble of a building that collapsed in Adana, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
Ilyas Akengin/AFP via Getty Images
A man reacts as people search for survivors through the rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb 6, 2023, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border. The quake – followed by a smaller 7.5 magnitude earthquake – was Turkey’s biggest in at least a century.
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Rescuers search for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of a building that collapsed in Adana, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
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A man helps an injured resident slide out of the rubble of a collapsed building in Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region.
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A Syrian man weeps as he carries the body of his son who was killed in an earthquake in the town of Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
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Residents stand in front of a collapsed building in Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the border of Turkey and Syria.
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Residents of Idlib, Syria, inspect a destroyed building after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the border between Turkey and Syria, killing thousands and devastating the region.
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People search for victims and survivors from the rubble of a building in Afrin, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023. Two massive earthquakes – at 7.8 magnitude and 7.5 magnitude respectively – struck in the border region of Turkey and Syria early Monday morning, killing thousands as they slept.
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Rescue teams search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Aleppo, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
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Residents for victims and survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, following an 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Sarmada, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
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Residents search for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of collapsed buildings in the village of Besnia, Syria, Feb. 6, 2022. The village is close to the Turkish-Syrian border, where a 7.8 magnitude – and later
a 7.5 magnitude – earthquake struck.
