New Delhi: An infant born under the rubble in northern Syria during this month’s devasting earthquake was reunited with her aunt and uncle on Saturday.
The newborn was identified as the child of Abdallah and Afraa Mleihan, who died in the earthquake along with their other children in the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Syria’s Aleppo province.
She had been hospitalised after the February 6 earthquake and was discharged on Saturday after a DNA test confirmed her aunt was a blood relative. The officials at the hospital named her Aya — Arabic for “a sign from God.”
But her paternal aunt Hala and uncle by marriage Khalil Al-Sawadi gave her a new name, Afraa, after her late mother.
“This girl means so much to us because there’s no-one left of her family besides this baby. She’ll be a memory for me, for her aunt and for all of our relatives in the village of her mother and father,” Sawadi told Reuters.
“There were legal procedures to confirm the genetic relation, as well as a DNA test,” he added.
He added that days after Afraa was born, his wife gave birth to a daughter, Attaa.
According to Associated Press, Judicial officials in Afrin had taken over the case of Afraa after the girl drew international attention and some people came to the hospital claiming they are related to her although they had different family names than Afraa and her mother.
A hospital official said Afraa was handed over to her aunt’s family days after a DNA test was conducted to make sure the girl and her aunt are biologically related.
Rescue workers in Jinderis discovered the dark-haired baby girl more than 10 hours after the quake as they were digging through the wreckage of the five-story apartment building where her parents lived, AP reported.
The powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Turkey’s southeastern Kharamanmaras province struck in the early hours of February 6, followed by multiple aftershocks. More than 40,000 people have been reported dead, a toll expected to rise as search teams find more bodies.
(With inputs from agencies)