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Syria: Newborn baby rescued from rubble with umbilical cord still attached 

February 8, 2023 at 9:48 am

A newborn baby who was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother and pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria following a deadly earthquake, receives medical care at a clinic in Afrin, on February 7, 2023 [RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images]

A new born baby girl was rescued from under the rubble in Syria with her umbilical cord still attached to her lifeless mother.

The little girl’s entire family, father Abdullah Al-Malehan, her mother, Afra, her four brothers, and her aunt were killed under the rubble of their home following the earthquake in Jindayris, northern Syria.

An emotional Khalil Al-Sawadi, who is a relative of the family, told reporters yesterday: “We were looking for Abu Rudeina [Khalil] and his family. We first found his sister, then we found Um Rudeina and he was near her,” according to AFP.

“We heard a sound when we were digging, and by God’s will (…) we cleared away the dirt and found a baby girl still connected to her umbilical cord. We cut the cord and my cousin took her to the hospital,” he said.

WATCH: Mother & baby rescued from under rubble 30 hours after earthquake

Rescue teams managed to pull out the bodies of her family after hours of searching, while the baby received medical care in an incubator at Jehan Hospital in Afrin, northern Aleppo.

Paediatric specialist, Hani Maarouf, said: “We gave her first aid and administered calcium through an IV, as she spent hours without nursing,” adding that “she is stable, but there is severe bruising on her body,” saying it was likely that she sustained the bruising in the womb, and that she may have been born about seven hours after the earthquake hit.

Her family had been displaced from Deir Ez-Zor.