On Friday 18 February, the little girl was born, in the middle of an earthquake. The images of the newborn baby covered in dust being pulled alive from a collapsed house went around the world. At the hospital they called her Aya. It means miracle.
– She means so much to us
The newborn baby was identified as the daughter of Abdallah and Afraa Mleihan, who both died in the earthquake along with the rest of their children. They lived in the town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, which is controlled by Syrian rebels. She was cared for in a hospital in Afrin. The hospital management told of a record number of inquiries from people who would like to adopt the little girl.
She was born while her mother was buried in the rubble, and on February 7 she was discovered in a five-story building that had been razed to the ground. Photo: AP / NTB
The manager of the hospital let his wife nurse her and take care of her while she received treatment for cuts and injuries. He told The Guardian that the girl was going to stay there until the hospital got in touch with her relatives and together they could make a decision.
STRONG: The girl was bruised and had scratches when she arrived at the hospital in the rebel-held province of Aleppo in Syria. Photo: Ghaith Alsayed / AP / NTB
On Saturday, Aya’s aunt Hala, the sister of the baby’s father, came and picked her up with her husband Khalil Al-Sawadi.
– This girl means so much to us, because there is no one left in her family except her. She will remind her aunt and all our relatives in the village of her mother and father,” Sawadi told Reuters.
Getting a “twin cousin”
The girl has been named Afraa after her mother. Three days after the earthquake, the aunt and uncle also had a daughter, named Ataa. The two will be allowed to grow up together, Sawadi tells Reuters.
– The reason why it took time to accept her is that the authorities had to get confirmation that we are her relatives, he said.
Khalil Al-Sawadi is married to the sister of the girl’s mother, and now they have brought her home to Jandaris. Three days after the earthquake, her cousin was born, and now they will grow up together. Photo: Khalil Ashawi / Reuters
More than 5,800 people have died in Syria since the earthquake, most of them in the north of the country in opposition-controlled areas. People in the area have lived with acts of war and bomb attacks since the conflict in Syria broke out in 2011.
Jandaris, where Sawadi lives, is one of the hardest hit towns in the north. Other children have ended up as orphans after the earthquake, and after years of bombardment, writes Reuters.
The earthquake has also caused damage to cities controlled by the authorities.
Video: The town of Jandaris was hit hard. They rescued many of the ruins, but the village has suffered great losses, and many have lost family. Here a boy is taken out.
