Turkey-Syria Earthquake: These Syrian Toddlers Made Miraculous Escapes but Are Now Orphaned

Syria’s rebel-held enclaves in the northwestern part of the war torn country have suffered major damages due to the powerful 7.8 magnitude quake that struck southern Turkey on Monday.

The region’s infrastructure is dilapidated due to the decade-long war between the rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and the earthquake has exacerbated the suffering of the residents.

Also Read: Turkey Earthquake: Trapped People Cry Out from Within Debris; How Long Can One Survive Under Rubble?

Charles Lister, the director of the Syrian chapter of the Middle Eastern Institute, shared pictures of two separate incidents where Syrian rescuers and civilians in the rebel-held regions rescued two children from the debris of the collapsed buildings where their chances of survival were slim to none.

He shared pictures of a boy who was trapped under the collapsed upper floor of a multi-story building in Syria’s Salqin town, which falls under Idlib governorate.

The picture shared by Lister in his tweet showed the boy’s body hanging over the edge

He later shared another tweet, originally shared by Hadi Alabdallah, a Syrian journalist from Homs, where a small child was seen in a crib, eating a piece of bread, with a bandage wrapped around her hand.

Though it was not immediately clear from which part of Syria the child was rescued, Lister in his tweet pointed out that this child is now the only surviving member of her family.

Reuters in its report also reported that a Syrian toddler Raghad Ismail was rescued from the rubble of her home after it collapsed due to the earthquake. The report pointed out that even though Raghad was lucky, her pregnant mother along with her two siblings died after their home collapsed on them.

Reuters said that Raghad emerged unscathed from the rubble in the Syrian city of Azaz on early Monday morning.

“The father is feared to have his back broken, his young daughter is fine. His pregnant wife, his five-year-old daughter and his four-year-old son have all been killed,” Abu Hassam, Raghad’s uncle, was quoted as saying by Reuters, while she sat nibbling on a piece of bread, covered with blankets, with a heater keeping her warm amid winter cold.

In Syrian government-controlled areas, the death toll rose to 711 in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, the Syrian Health Ministry said. In rebel-held parts of the country’s northwest, at least 740 people were killed. Tens of thousands have been injured and the numbers of those injured as well as the death toll is expected to rise.

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