Warning: Some readers might find the following images disturbing
The harrowing moment a baby was pulled from the rubble of what was meant to be her home in Syria, just minutes after being born, has emerged.
Footage circulating on social media shows the girl being carried to safety by a rescuer in Jenderes, in a northeastern region devastated by Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The newborn’s mother is thought to have died after giving birth. The rest of her family is also said to have perished.
According to local media, the pregnant mother – displaced from Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor region – went into labour during the quake which has killed more than 5,000 across Turkey and Syria and as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned it could hit 20,000. WHO said Tuesday that 23 million people – including 1.4 million children – could be affected.
This is so sad. 💔
As this baby was born, it's Mother passed away in the rubble of the earthquake in Syria. 😭🙏🏼
The time the earthquake happened and what was happening elsewhere isn't lost on me…
This world is so twisted!
(Video via @JimmyLevyMusic on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/YOwZAz27w7
— Henry Joseph-Grant (@speirin) February 7, 2023
In the video, another man races after the rescuer with a dusty blanket in hand, then hands it over to keep her warm.
According to the comments on the video, it was filmed in a rural areas near the city of Aleppo, which was severely affected by the earthquake that struck both Syria and Turkey.
According to Sky, more than 700 people in opposition-controlled Syria and 538 in government-held areas of Syria have died.
A quake rocked Turkey early on Tuesday morning after two devastated the country and its neighbour Syria a day earlier, killing more than 5,000 people and trapping injuring and trapping scores more.
The initial 7.8-magnitude earthquake was so powerful it was felt as far away as Greenland and was followed by a series of more than 200 aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude tremor that struck in the middle of search and rescue work on Monday.
As of 9am, the death toll in Syria stood at 1,602, according to the Syrian government and the White Helmets rescue service in the insurgent-held northwest. In Turkey, the death toll climbed to 3,419 people, vice president Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday morning, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed in total to 5,102.
Related links:
- Ex-Premier League star ‘trapped in rubble’ after earthquake in Turkey
- More than 200 people killed after 7.8 magnitude earthquake hits Turkey and Syria
- Second major earthquake hits Turkey, according to reports
