A Syrian baby girl whose mother gave birth under the rubble of her home during this week’s devastating earthquake is now named: Aya, which means “sign of God” in Arabic.
Aya is related to an untold number of orphans left after Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 20,000 people in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Her parents and all her siblings are dead, so her uncle will adopt her when she is released from the hospital.
But his home in the town of Gendris in northwestern Syria was also destroyed. He and his family managed to escape the construction of a plant, But now he is living in a tent with 11 of his relatives.
“After an earthquake, no one will be able to live in their house or building. Only 10 per cent of the buildings here are safe to live in and the rest are abandoned.”
Aya was found Monday afternoon by rescuers digging through the rubble of the five-story apartment building she was in, more than 10 hours after the quake struck in Gendris. His parents lived.
Buried under concrete, the baby girl was still attached by the umbilical cord to her mother, Afrah Abu Hadiya, who had died along with her husband and four other children. The girl was taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Afrin.
The doctor said that Abu Hadiya had probably given birth to her and then died a few hours before they were discovered. Hani Maarouf from Sihan Hospital in Afrin.
“We named her Aya so we could stop calling her a newborn,” Maroof said. He said that his health condition is improving day by day and he has not suffered any damage to the spinal cord, which was initially feared.
The movement brought down thousands of apartment buildings from sleeping residents, killing many entire families.
Doctors and experts say that in most cases, relatives adopt orphans. But the kin of those who survived are also grappling with the loss of their lives and families. In the days of chaos following the earthquake, as bodies continue to be found and fewer and fewer survivors remain, Doctors say it is impossible to say how many children lost their parents.
Jana, a 7-year-old girl, is the only survivor of her family after the earthquake in Turkey
in a hospital in northwestern Syria, Jana al-Abdo, a 7-year-old girl, Jalil Alsfouk, the doctor who saw her, said that when they took her away she asked several times where her parents were. “Later we learned that it was The only survivor of his entire family.”he said on Thursday.
Jana was found by rescuers on Tuesday After spending 30 hours under the rubble of his family home In Harem, a Syrian city near the Turkish border, Alsfouk said. His mother, his father and his three brothers passed away.
He was taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Bab al-Hawa, which was already overwhelmed by the number of cases.
“We have 24 beds and five incubators in our children’s section, but we are receiving dozens of babies. We barely had space. and we were the only hospital that had a Section for Pediatric Surgery in the fieldAlsofouk told.
An Associated Press reporter on Wednesday saw Jana crying in pain and confusion on her bed, waving an IV catheter in her arms. His face was covered with cuts.
An aunt later came and Jana was handed over to them, Alsfaulk said.
Alsfauk’s own house was left in ruins, and his family moved in with friends. For days he has been looking at the stream of wounded children, some of whom did not survive.
“The experience was terrifying. It’s hard to stop the pain after trying to save one child and not succeeding,” he said, “because then you have to continue with dozens of other children who need help.”
For now, the situation is not too clear to determine the number of orphans, said Dr. Muhib Kaddour, deputy director of the health department in Syria’s Idlib province.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said it is monitoring children whose parents have disappeared or died, providing them with food, clothing and medicines, and coordinating with hospitals to provide care to extended family. Looking for members who can care for them.
In Turkey, the Ministry of Family and Social Services asked potential adoptive families to submit their applications. He said that the children whose families or relatives could not be found are currently being taken care of in government institutions. The ministry said staff are assessing their needs and placing them with registered adoptive families.
In Syria, near the opposition-held city of Azaz, an NGO has set up a temporary orphanage that now houses about 40 children.
But in many cases the whole family interferes. Syrians have experience dealing with the tragedy of parentless children: Hundreds have been killed in the country’s long-running civil war, which 2011 and has left an unknown number of orphans.
It is the center of the last remaining opposition enclave in the northwest of the country, and was badly affected by the earthquake.
“But now people are realizing that a lot of children are left without families. And the society is welcoming them with open heart. Distant relatives give them shelter before going to the orphanage,” he said. “Unfortunately, things only clear up after the dust has settled from the earthquake.”
