Syrian baby born under rubble is one of untold numbers of earthquake orphans
- The newborn, now named Aya, is one of numerous orphans being looked after by extended family
- But many of these relatives are themselves are dealing with the wreckage of their own lives and homes
02:30
Syrian baby girl born under rubble after deadly earthquake killed rest of her family
A Syrian baby girl whose mother gave birth to her while trapped under the rubble of their home during this week’s devastating earthquake now has a name: Aya, Arabic for “a sign from God”. With her parents and all her siblings killed, her great-uncle will take her in.
Aya is one of untold numbers of orphans left by Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, which killed more than 21,000 people in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
The predawn quake brought down thousands of residential buildings on residents as they were roused from sleep, so entire families often perished.
In most cases, relatives take in orphaned children, doctors and experts say. But those surviving relatives are also dealing with the wreckage of their own lives and families. In the continued chaos days after the quake, with the dead and a dwindling number of survivors still being found, doctors say it is impossible to say how many children lost their parents.
At one hospital in northwest Syria, a red-haired seven-year-old girl, Jana al-Abdo, asked repeatedly where her parents were after she was brought in, said Dr Khalil Alsfouk, who was treating her. “We later found out she was the only one who survived among her entire family,” he said Thursday.
In the case of the newborn Aya, her father’s uncle, Salah al-Badran, will take her in once she is released from the hospital.
But his own house was also destroyed in the northwest Syrian town of Jenderis. He and his family managed to escape the one-storey building, but now he and his household of 11 people are living in a tent, he said.