Residents digging through a collapsed building in a north-west Syrian town have discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble from this week’s devastating earthquake, according to relatives and a doctor.
The mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, died before rescue workers reached her. The newborn girl’s umbilical cord was still connected to her mother's body, they said.
Ramadan Sleiman, a family relative, said the baby was the only member of her family to survive the building collapse in the small town of Jinderis.
Monday’s pre-dawn magnitude 7.8 earthquake, followed by multiple aftershocks, caused widespread destruction across southern Türkiye and northern Syria. Thousands have been killed, with the toll mounting as more bodies are discovered. But dramatic rescues have also occurred.
Elsewhere in Jinderis, a young girl was found alive, buried in concrete under the wreckage of her home.
The newborn baby was rescued on Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake struck.
