A tiny newborn baby girl was miraculously found alive underneath a collapsed building in the Middle East Monday, following devastating earthquakes that rocked Syria and Turkey. Despite the tragedy of the natural disaster, a glimmer of hope emerged when relatives of the baby heard her cries coming from beneath the rubble. The little girl’s umbilical cord was still attached to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who had tragically perished during the quake.
As search and rescue teams worked tirelessly to clear debris away, they finally uncovered the baby’s body – cold and bruised but still alive. Her temperature had dropped to an alarming 95 degrees after being exposed in the frigid air for hours without her mother’s warmth. Dr. Hani Maarouf, who cared for her at a hospital in Afrin said, “had she been left for an hour more she would have died”.
The family of six had been attempting to flee their home as the earthquake hit, but only Afraa Abu Hadiya’s newborn daughter survived. It was later discovered that all four of her other children and husband had not made it out alive – their bodies were tragically found near the entrance of their residence.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake which struck on Monday morning was quickly followed by a 7.5-magnitude aftershock later in the afternoon – claiming over 4000 casualties across Syria and Turkey combined since then. This is now recognized as one of the deadliest natural disasters seen in this region since 1939, when an earthquake in Erzincan killed thirty thousand people within its vicinity. The situation has also been further exacerbated due to millions of refugees taking refuge on both sides of Turkey and Syria’s borders since civil war broke out in Syria years ago.
In response to this tragedy, Joe Biden declared immediate US aid to assist with search and rescue efforts as well as support those injured or displaced by this natural disaster. In his statement he said, “At my direction senior American officials reached out immediately to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate any and all needed assistance.” U.S.-supported humanitarian partners are also responding in order to provide support for those who have suffered due to this disaster