Newborn survives 10 hours beneath rubble

JINDERIS/DAMASCUS — Residents digging through a collapsed building in a town in northwestern Syria discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath rubble from this week's devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said on Tuesday, while the country lambasted the United States' sanctions to block humanitarian work.

The girl's umbilical cord was still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was dead, they said. The baby was the only member of her family to survive in the building collapse in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, on Monday, Ramadan Sleiman, a relative, told The Associated Press.

Monday's predawn magnitude-7.8 earthquake, followed by many aftershocks, caused widespread destruction across southern Turkiye and northern Syria.

The newborn baby was rescued on Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake struck. Rescuers dug her out after a neighbor cut the cord, and she and others rushed with the baby to a children's hospital in the nearby town of Afrin, where the baby was being kept in an incubator, said the doctor treating her, Hani Maarouf.

Video of the rescue circulating on social media shows the moments after the baby was removed from the rubble, as a man lifts her up, her umbilical cord still dangling, and rushes away as another man throws him a blanket to wrap her in.

The baby's body temperature had fallen to 35 C and she had bruises, including a large one on her back, but she is in stable condition, he said.

Abu Hadiya must have been conscious during the birth and must have died soon after, Maarouf said. He estimated the baby was born several hours before being found, given the amount her temperature had dropped. "Had the girl been left for an hour more, she would have died."

Dozens of buildings in Jinderis collapsed in the quake.

Sanctions lambasted

Syrians have suffered from economic harsh conditions due to Western sanctions in a country mired in a decadelong civil war.

The country has lambasted the US for blocking humanitarian relief work in Syria following the quake.

Syrians are digging among rubble with bare hands or using the simplest tools because the US has banned providing equipment for removing rubble, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

Sanctions have been a main US tactic toward Syria since the latter was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979. Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the US and its Western allies have imposed numerous economic sanctions and restrictions that have denied Syrians the means to pursue growth as well as access to daily necessities. US sanctions intensified with the passing of the Caesar Act in 2019.

Monday's strong earthquake and its aftershocks have drained the already limited resources of Syria.

Agencies - Xinhua