Syrian baby born in earthquake, adopted by aunt and uncle

Baby girl born during deadly earthquake earlier this month adopted by her uncle

Syria Chance:

A newborn baby born in northern Syria during this month’s devastating earthquake was reunited with his aunt and uncle on Saturday after his parents and siblings died in the disaster.

Footage of the quake’s aftermath has been widely circulated on social media, showing a rescue worker climbing down a hill of rubble carrying a small child covered in dust.

The newborn was later identified as the child of Abdullah and Afrah Malihan, who died in the earthquake along with their other children in the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Syria’s Aleppo province.

The infant was treated at Jihan Hospital in Afrin district further west until medics could verify the identities of his relatives.

On Saturday, her aunt Hala and uncle by marriage Khalil al-Sawadi finally picked up their niece – whom they named Afrah after her mother.

“This girl means a lot to us as there is no one left in her family except this child. She will be a memory for me, her aunt and all our relatives in her mother’s and father’s village.” told Reuters.

She was holding Afra wrapped in a pink blanket in one hand and her newborn daughter Ata wrapped in blue in the other. Ata was born three days after the earthquake and Savadi said he would raise them together.

“There were legal procedures to confirm the genetic link, as well as DNA testing,” he told Reuters.

More than 5,800 people have died across Syria as a result of the February 6 earthquake, largely in the opposition-held north which has already faced bombardment since the conflict began in Syria in 2011.

The earthquake killed over 39,000 people in Turkey.

Jandari, where Sawadi lives, is one of the worst-affected towns in the rebel-held parts of the north. Other children have been orphaned by earthquakes after surviving years of bombardment in the nearly 12-year war that has ravaged Syria.

Cities under government control have also been heavily damaged. A woman gave birth to a baby boy in the city of Aleppo during the earthquake and said she “brought him back to life.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)